Kurei
by adrien skywalker
Summary: Reposted!The Uchiha Massacre never happened! Instead some deals were struck and some agreements were made. Because of that, the world will be changed forever. Only a living weapon can train another living weapon, and Uchiha Itachi proves it in spades - On indefinite Hiatus
1. Prologue: Itachi

Itachi Uchiha, 13, and the newest initiate to the ranks of captains of the elite ANBU department of Konohagakure no Sato was surprised to see that he had received a summons for a private meeting with the Go-Ikenban, the ruling council of the village, consisting of the Hokage and his three advisors. It gave him an unusual sense of foreboding. The Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, was an amenable man, but his three advisors not as much. This did not bode well.

Itachi had been born into the Uchiha clan and was praised by all as the best of his generation - a genius above all others. Even by the standards of the battle-adept Uchiha clan, Itachi's prowess far outshone them. His talents were rightly recognized by the village hierarchy, and he had had a meteoric rise in the ranks of the village's ninja corps, comparable to the careers of some of the greatest stalwarts in shinobi history who had arisen out of his village, like the Sannin, the White Fang, the Yondaime Hokage and Hatake Kakashi, his immediate superior.

As he made his way towards the chamber, he frowned as he noticed that the subject of discussion for the meeting was to be a black operation. That again increased his curiosity.

A black operation or black op was usually a covert operation typically involving activities that were highly clandestine and, often, outside of standard military protocol. Black ops missions often fit into the deniable category, a situation in which there is no claim of responsibility for the action, and/or a false flag operation is used to give the appearance that another actor was responsible, or – most often – black operations involve extensive arrangements so as to be able to hide the fact that the black operation ever occurred. Black military operations, or paramilitary operations, can be used by various secret services to achieve or attempt to achieve an unusually sensitive goal. It was also what the members of the ANBU excelled in.

As he entered the chamber, he saluted and presented himself to the Hokage, 67, and his two advisors, Homura Mitokado, 65, and Utatane Koharu, 64, both of whom were present in the chamber. Most glaring was the absence of the last elder and the commander of the ANBU's erstwhile Root division, Danzo.

The duty of the Council of Konoha was to help the Hokage govern the village and to make sure all decisions are made with the best interest of Konoha and its inhabitants in mind. Itachi instantly became cautious as he noticed that even the Sandaime Hokage was looking unusually pensive. For the generally warm disposed Hokage to be so serious, it meant that this meeting was going to be a complicated one.

"Itachi Uchiha, please sit down, we have much to discuss," Homura spoke curtly as the young man nodded and sat down.

"Itachi-san, we wish to thank you for your efforts in bringing to light the treacherous thoughts and actions that your clan has been attempting. We know that it is hard for someone of your stature, especially one who holds the position of clan heir to act against their own clan, and as such, we are pleased to inform you that you now have the permission to stop spying on your clan's activities," Koharu spoke in a soft tone as she looked at the young boy.

Sarutobi shook his head in reluctant admiration as he eyed the young boy who stoically accepted the veiled insult disguised in the form of a compliment with perfect dignity. It was sad to see that such a young boy had been reduced to becoming a pawn between two warring factions, one his own clan, and the other his own village.

Although Itachi's face showed no emotion, inside his mind was racing with possible scenarios.

Following the Demon Fox's Attack on Konoha, Konoha's leadership had began to suspect that an Uchiha was behind the attack. In order to keep an eye on the Uchiha they were forced to live in a small corner of Konoha, creating dissent within the clan. When members of the clan began planning a coup d'état, Itachi, as an ANBU, was tasked with spying on the village. Knowing that a coup d'état would only lead to another Ninja War; Itachi had spied on the Uchiha instead, passing on information to the Third Hokage and the other Konoha elders.

And now, for the elders to order him to stop his surveillance meant that they had reached a decision. He set his jaw rigidly and waited for the blow to come.

* * *

Homura cleared his throat, and Sarutobi taking his cue spoke out, "We have decided that your clan is not to blame for this, not in entirety, for part of the reason for the origins of this conflict lies with us as well, due to some hasty decisions made by this council," Sarutobi continued while Itachi stared in shock at the Hokage, amazed to hear the Hokage admit that the village had made a mistake. Homura and Koharu were looking testy, but they did not object which further convinced Itachi that something else was afoot.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Itachi spoke softly and the relief he felt was evident in his eyes.

"However," it was Koharu who spoke out, "We have one directive for you, Itachi-kun, and this…might be difficult for you to hear," the old woman spoke in a kind tone as Itachi looked at her in surprise.

"We know that your entire clan is not to blame for this, however, we cannot let these events spiral out of control as well," she concluded as Itachi's eyes widened.

_Surely…they couldn't mean…_

"We wish for you to eliminate the ring leaders of this plan in order to derail it indefinitely," Homura spoke bluntly as he eyed the boy who stood up horrified.

"You…want me…to kill my own father and uncle?" he asked in a horrified tone as he looked at the three elders who grimaced.

"Even we find it distasteful, Itachi-kun, but events have spiraled beyond even our control, and there is no hope for a peaceful resolution to this conflict, as of now. Your father is too proud a man to admit weakness by attempting reconciliation, and there are other parties monitoring this situation carefully," Koharu spoke out and Itachi's eyes hardened as he got the implied message.

_Danzo._

The name did not even need to be spoken out. While Homura and Koharu were prone to using force in dealing with situations, this was too drastic for even them to order. Only one man in Konoha was capable of ordering such a ruthless directive, the man who ran the infamous Root division of Konoha ANBU, Danzo.

"This situation is a disaster in the making, and your father has committed too much to back off quietly. Only his demise will bring a quick resolution to this situation," Homura continued as he gazed softly at the boy.

"And if I refuse…," Itachi spoke carefully as he looked at the three elders.

"Would you want to, if you know what the alternative is going to be?" Sarutobi asked quietly.

"I am afraid I don't understand, Hokage-sama," Itachi spoke out as Sarutobi brought an envelope out of his pocket and handed it to the young boy.

Itachi's eyebrows rose to his hairline as he saw the seal of the Daimyo of Hi no Kuni on the envelope. In the entire fire nation, only one man had the authority to supersede the Hokage, and that was the daimyo.

The boy quietly took the envelope and opened it. His hands began to tremble as he read the contents of the message, but with remarkable adroitness, he composed himself. Even the elders were impressed against their will as they witnessed the mental fortitude of the boy.

"So, these are my choices? It seems I am damned either way, to either kill the two men who raised me _or kill my entire clan_…quite a conundrum you have placed me in, hokage-sama," Itachi spoke softly while Sarutobi cringed.

"I am sorry Itachi, but this problem was of such a great magnitude that the royal council of fire nation decided to interfere unilaterally. The Daimyo's advisors and Danzo were of the opinion that a coup attempt by a clan of your stature would destroy the status quo of the elemental nations itself, if not that, it could have possibly spiraled into the 4th shinobi war, or in the worst case pushed us all back to the times of the warring clans era. Therefore, it was decided that only two outcomes were possible," Sarutobi concluded with a heavy tone as he looked at the crest fallen look on the boy's face.

"As such," Homura interrupted, "One solution given was that the coup attempt could be derailed if the ring leaders were to be eliminated, and an individual more amenable to the village was made the head of the Uchiha clan," the man spoke grimly as he glared at the boy.

"And that was the more moderate one of the solutions offered," Koharu interjected, "with the other being the complete execution of your entire clan, down to the last child, and let me tell you Itachi, it was not an easy decision to make. To order the genocide of a clan of our own village is not a decision made lightly, but considering that the alternative was the destruction of everything that has been achieved in the last 80 years, you can understand how that decision was made," she spoke softly.

"I understand your concerns, I truly do," Itachi spoke after a while, "But even this is fraught with complications," Itachi spoke out as the eyes of the elders widened.

"Go on," Homura spoke out as Itachi nodded and continued, "You offer a solution that could end your problems, but have you any thought of what kind of resources you would require to execute such an act? The Uchiha, for all their bluster and arrogance are a clan who are **_or rather_** were equal to the Senju clan of the Forest at one time; no offence meant, but to muster a force capable of annihilating every member of the Uchiha clan would require an enormous effort, bordering on the usage of resources equal to one possessed by an entire hidden village, or at least a group of Kage level shinobi. Have you such a force at your disposal?" he asked judiciously as the elders frowned.

"The entire ANBU and the Root have enough capability to do what you state…," Koharu began when Itachi interjected, "I mean no offense, but being an ANBU I am well aware of the capabilities of the ANBU of Konoha, and let me offer some information for your perusal," the young man spoke professionally as the elders reluctantly nodded and listened.

"The ANBU of Konoha is prone to working in small squads, which are usually maintained for short durations. The fact is that the members of the division, even for all their cumulative skills, lack the one thing that makes the Uchiha clan as good as it is today, and that is teamwork. The ANBU are grouped together for missions, and once the missions are completed, the teams are disbanded and the members rotated with various other squads, and frequently at that. Furthermore, with the secretive nature of the division, most of the members are not familiar with other members, and more specifically, they cannot cooperate with each other in perfect synchronization for a mission of such an enormous stature in such a short time. And preparations for a mission of this scale cannot be hidden and the Uchiha clan would learn of it. Furthermore, almost every battle capable member of the Uchiha clan is intimately familiar with other members of the clan who are also battle capable, as they are all trained together from childhood. The Clan, for use of a better term is a division in itself, with enough skill to take on the entire ANBU division, and that is _without the Sharingan._"

The Hokage and the elders jerked back upright, as the weight of the youngster's words sunk in.

"You are aware of what the bloodline is capable of, so I will not elaborate on that," Itachi continued as he looked at the elders who slowly began to realize what a task they had set for themselves, "Furthermore, there are more than 400 Uchiha's who are battle-capable and three-fourths of them possess the Sharingan on various levels. If you use the ANBU for this, you might succeed, but at the cost of crippling the ANBU division, forever, _leaving Konoha vulnerable_, without the ANBU and the Uchiha to aid it if another party makes use of that time to take advantage of the situation," at which the three elders jerked upright as if they had been stung.

"And moreover, the battle cannot be contained in the Uchiha enclave alone and it would spill out into the village, dragging the civilian populace and bystanders into it, and if they were to witness the village Ninja Force attacking the Uchiha clan, they would draw wrong conclusions, and assume that the village was conducting a bloodline purge on the basis of Kirigakure no Sato. And during the battle, you will not have time to explain the reasons for the said battle to the villagers, and by the time you try to ameliorate the situation, it will be far too late. The villagers will think that you are trying to cover up the truth, and furthermore, you run the risk of alienating other bloodline clans who might believe that they are next in line, so to speak. The working dynamics of Konoha will be damaged irreparably if you attempt to annihilate the clan outright," Itachi finished as the three elders drew a deep breath.

"It seems to me," Itachi continued, "Do pardon my language, that this was thought of as a knee-jerk reaction, and brought out hastily, and you would need people with the level of skills possessed by the Densetsu no Sannin or the Yondaime Hokage to pull off a mission of this magnitude successfully, which unfortunately the village has a serious lack of currently, no offense meant again," the youngster finished.

The three elders could not help but be impressed at the thorough way in which the youngster had presented his case.

"You do make many valid points, Itachi-kun," Homura spoke seriously as he looked appraisingly at the young boy whom he now began to see in a new light.

"However, the fact remains that, even if what you say is completely true in all aspects, it is equally true that not doing anything and allowing your clan to continue as it is _would have even graver consequences than the one's you just mentioned. _As such, even we find that our hands are tied. So, we come to this. Either the ring leaders of the plot must be eliminated or the entire clan must be executed, what will it be?"

"And you wish me to do this," Itachi stated as he eyed the elders who nodded firmly.

"So apart from asking me to get rid of my own father, you wish to test the loyalty of the next clan head of the Uchiha clan by asking him to eliminate the previous one? Why me? You could have chosen anybody else and just informed me of this. Why torture me like this? Do you have any idea of what you are putting me through?" the boy asked in a soft tone as the three elders lowered their heads.

"We are truly ashamed, Itachi-kun, but even our hands are tied, and the daimyo's words are law," the Hokage spoke out softly as the boy sat down, tired and flustered.

"Very well," he spoke as he looked at the Hokage, "I will do it. I will eliminate the leaders of this plot," he spoke softly as the three elders bowed their heads in gratitude.

"However," Itachi continued, "I have some terms of my own," he concluded as the elders sat up, attentive.

"Of course," the hokage agreed amiably, "Name them."

"I will have to enlist the aid of one other person, to aid me in this, and as such, I will have to reveal at least some part of all this to him," Itachi spoke out while the eyes of the elders narrowed.

"And who might that be?" Homura asked quietly.

"Shisui," Itachi replied as the elders looked at each other.

"Agreed, but he learns only on a need-to-know basis," Homura cautioned Itachi who nodded in agreement, "That is acceptable."

"Second, you must realize that the leaders of this plot are my father and uncle, and conversely, me and Shisui, who are their son's are being tasked to kill them; and as such, we will be forced to succeed them in their positions. Me as the next clan head, and head of the Military Police with Shisui as my deputy, do you have any objections to this?"

"Of course not, it is perfectly acceptable," Koharu spoke out with a nod.

"Finally, we come to the fact that despite all of this, you have not yet addressed the issues which have given birth to this problem," Itachi spoke out softly as the eyes of the elders narrowed.

"What do you mean?" Homura asked as he eyed the boy with a gimlet eye.

"The Uchiha were forced to this, because they had no alternative. If you wish for the Uchiha to concede, then the village too must concede something, it cannot be unilateral. The Village has excluded my clan from the prosperous gains that this village has enjoyed for long, gains which even we have shed our blood to gain. All because of unfounded suspicions! And yet you find it surprising that the clan was forced to do this? Are we not part of this village too? Since the inception of this village, we have been treated like lepers by our own government! Do you think that the clan would accept it for eternity?" he asked in a heated tone while Homura and Koharu's faces colored up.

"It was done because of the rebellion of your clan's former leader, Uchiha Madara, and the devastation that he caused in his quest to become the supreme leader of this village!!" Homura growled, "And watch your words carefully, boy," he warned as he glared at the youngster.

"The man is dead!! **DEAD!!** He died nearly sixty years ago, and yet you intend to punish the clan for eternity for what one misguided individual did? You are willing to spare my clan and ask me to assassinate the individuals responsible for our current problems, stating that the clan as a whole is not responsible for the decisions made by a few individuals, _and yet you continue to hold my clan responsible for the action of one man who died nearly half a century ago_? What sort of hypocrisy is this?" Itachi asked angrily while Homura's face turned an ugly shade of puce.

"Peace, Itachi, calm down, you too Homura-kun, there is truth in the boy's words as well, let us resolve this peacefully," Sarutobi interjected as he eyed the young boy who had suddenly become larger than life, so to speak, in his eyes.

"Itachi, you speak correctly, and yes, I agree that your clan has been unfairly discriminated against," Sarutobi began at which Koharu began to rise, furious, but she stopped at a glare from Sarutobi as she sank down in her seat glowering at the hokage.

"_In fact, Minato and I had reached the same conclusion as well,_" Sarutobi continued at which all of the members in the chambers looked at Sarutobi in surprise.

"Yes, even Minato had the same concerns as you, Itachi-kun, and he was intent on beginning a conciliation initiative with your clan, before the tragedy of the Kyuubi attack," Sarutobi began as the eyes of the elders widened.

"In the history of the shinobi world, there have been only four men who have the ability to control the tailed beasts. They were, Hashirama Senju, the Shodai Hokage and my sensei; your ancestor, Uchiha Madara, and the current Yondaime Mizukage, Yagura, the jinchuuriki of the Sanbi no Kyodaigame; and Killer Bee, the brother of the current Raikage and the Jinchuuriki of the Hachibi no Kyogyu. Of these four, only the latter two remain, but at the time of the attack of the fox, neither they nor their villages had any reason to attack us so brazenly, and furthermore, while they do possess the talent to control a tailed beast, it is limited only to the tailed beast that is sealed within them. My sensei and your ancestor however, possessed the ability to control all the tailed beasts, and since my sensei is no longer among the living, it was automatically suspected that an Uchiha was behind the attack of the fox. Because we cannot say for certainty that Uchiha Madara is behind this attack, as we all know that he perished in the battle at the Valley of the End, some of the xenophobic members of the royal council openly speculated that it was possibly an Uchiha behind the attack, although who it is is unknown. But since they had no proof to directly accuse your clan, they forced the Go-Ikenban to segregate your clan from the rest of the village," the Hokage finished quietly as Itachi gaped at the hokage.

"And you agreed, without any proof, or without asking our clan for any clarification? You decided on such a knee-jerk response based on vague suspicions? And today, because of this I am being forced to kill my own father to save my own clan? What do you take me for, Hokage-sama, I am human as well, and can you not see what you are putting me through?" Itachi asked in a pained voice.

"I cannot make amends for errors of the past, Itachi, but I can and will make amends now, for the present," Sarutobi spoke sternly as he gazed at Homura and Koharu who silently nodded as they recomposed themselves.

"Once you and Shisui complete your mission, Itachi, the order of segregation against your clan will be removed. Furthermore, all the rights that were denied to your clan, with regards to governing authority with this village will be fully reinstated. The Uchiha will truly have a voice in matters that pertain to governance of this village henceforth. And finally to compensate your clan for all the discrimination it underwent since the rebellion of Uchiha Madara, I Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime hokage of Konohagakure will place your name as the next immediate candidate to succeed me as the fifth hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, once I give up this position, or should I perish in duty. Is this sufficient, Itachi-kun?" Sarutobi asked calmly as Itachi stood up in shock. Homura and Koharu were silent as well as they gazed at the youngster who had stood up in shock as he gazed at the aged hokage.

Itachi fell to his knees and bowed deeply, "I thank you Hokage-sama, I thank you with the bottom of my heart, for finally addressing the grievances of my clan," the boy spoke as he wiped a lone tear out of his eye.

"If only your father was as sensible as you, then this tragedy would never have arisen," the hokage spoke wistfully while Itachi remained silent.

"If that is all…," Itachi began when Homura interrupted, "There is one other thing, Itachi-kun," the old man spoke as he looked at Itachi who stood rigidly at attention.

"Tell me, Itachi, what do you know of Uzumaki Naruto?" Homura asked as Itachi's eyes widened.

* * *

"The Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, what relevance does he have with this discussion?" Itachi asked in genuine curiosity as he looked at the elders.

"We will get to that, but first, what is your opinion about the child?" Koharu asked as she eyed him shrewdly.

"Personally, I believe that the child has been dealt an unfair hand in life, but such is the life that all jinchuuriki face. I personally hold no ill will towards him," Itachi spoke as three relieved smiles adorned the faces of the elders.

"Itachi, we will be brief. It is good to know that you hold no ill will towards the boy; however, what we want is this. We want you train the boy personally for the next five years. We want him to be at least as good as you were when he becomes eligible for the genin exams that occur then. He is currently seven years old, and you have five years to train him completely. Once your mission ends, and you ascend the position of the Uchiha clan head, you will be formally discharged with honor from the ANBU upon which you will assume the position of high jonin, shared by Kakashi and Shisui, and in tandem, you three will train the boy," Homura declared as the others nodded.

"May I know why such a drastic measure is being undertaken?" Itachi asked quietly.

"We believe that the situation with the elemental nations is going to deteriorate very rapidly in the near future. Already skirmishes are occurring on a daily basis with Kumogakure no Sato. Furthermore, all the villages that possess a jinchuuriki are training them ruthlessly in anticipation of the next Great War. And as such, this boy will be our last line of defense against them in the near future. Already, rumors are abounding of an exceptionally talented Jinchuuriki from Sunagakure, named Sabaku no Gaara, who also happens to be the current Kazekage's youngest son. Furthermore, Apart from the one in Suna, Kiri has two, Kumo has two, Iwa has two, and Takigakure of all have another. With such a huge number of potential jinchuuriki in the hands of our enemies, it is no longer a priority, _it is a necessity_. That child must be trained, and trained properly, and you, Kakashi and Shisui are the only one's capable of doing so. Besides that, Danzo is lobbying fiercely with the Daimyo to gain possession of the boy, and that cannot be allowed to happen at any cost," Homura explained quietly.

"I see, truly the situation must be desperate if we are forced to this," Itachi mused quietly.

"_Itachi, do not think that you are the only one who has made sacrifices today_," the hokage spoke curtly, at which Itachi was surprised.

"Danzo lobbied with the daimyo quite vociferously calling for the execution of your entire clan, and we were able to persuade the daimyo otherwise, by pointing out the same scenarios that you just stated a while ago. If the Uchiha clan was to be lost, and after that if Danzo were to gain possession of Naruto, then with his private militia and a fully trained Naruto, the man would have been in a position to take over Konoha itself. However, he is far more resourceful than we give him credit for. Once he failed in convincing the daimyo to order the execution of your clan, he made use of the same reasons that we presented to the daimyo, to order the reinstatement of Root as an official department of Konoha's ninja forces once more, under the official pretense of protecting this village of course. We gained the permission to have the Uchiha clan spared provided you get rid of the ring leaders, but that is at the cost of having a dangerous division like Root officially instated into Konoha once more. And now, Danzo is trying to gain possession of our Jinchuuriki by claiming that Root alone possesses the ability to train him effectively. However, if you accept to train Naruto, that potential disaster can be averted, because fortunately for us, Naruto has recently activated his bloodline," Sarutobi explained softly while Itachi's eyes hardened.

"I see, quite an unfortunate turn of events," Itachi admitted, "and what is this bloodline, the child has awakened, if I may ask?" he looked at the three elders who looked uncomfortable.

"Itachi, what we are about to reveal is a secret known only to three other people, apart from us, if this leaks out, then you will be executed without hesitation, do you accept these terms?" Homura asked quietly as he looked at the teenager.

Itachi nodded in agreement.

"Uzumaki Naruto was born Namikaze Naruto," Homura began at which Itachi's jaws fell open, "yes, the boy is the son of Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, and his wife Uzumaki Kushina. That night, Minato used his own newborn son to seal the demon inside him and made him into a jinchuuriki. His wife survived that night, but she was severely injured and spent the next five years as a bed-ridden paraplegic before perishing. But what you don't know is that the Uzumaki clan possessed one of the rarest, if not, one of the most powerful elemental bloodlines in the world. A bloodline called 'Enjutsu' and its masters are called as Enjutsu-shi," Sarutobi finished.

"And young Naruto has inherited it," Koharu added as Itachi took in the news quietly.

"Enjutsu-shi, meaning '_flame master_', what exactly are its abilities?" Itachi asked quietly.

"An Enjutsu-shi is able to create, control, and manipulate the element of fire at will. They are the absolute masters of the element of fire, and they are also immune from any form of an attack by that element. Furthermore, each Enjutsu-shi has a unique ability. Kushina's great grandfather **Kurei Hanabishi** had the ability to convert the souls of deceased warriors into spirits of flame and use them in battle, where the said spirits were able to use the abilities they had wielded when they were alive, basically put, he could create an army of unstoppable flame spirits, such is the potential of this bloodline," Sarutobi finished while Itachi's eyes widened.

He didn't take long to realize the potential granted by such an ability.

"And the child has already awakened this legendary bloodline?" Itachi asked in wonder as he eyed the elders.

"He has," Sarutobi continued, "As we told you, his mother passed away two years ago, and in his grief, he absorbed her soul and converted it into his most powerful flame spirit, by feeding it the power of the Kyuubi itself. As of now, only Jiraiya, Tsunade and Kakashi know of this ability, and Jiraiya and Tsunade are away from the village. Tsunade might never return, but Jiraiya has stated that he will return once the boy becomes a genin to take him as his apprentice, just like he did with his father, and we want you to prepare the boy for that eventuality. Shisui will have to be told as well, once he agrees to train him of course," the hokage concluded as Itachi nodded.

"This is the reason why we wish you to train the boy. The Uchiha clan are renowned users of the element of fire, and therefore it will make the most plausible cause available to us, to have the boy entrusted to your care, and with the reputations, you, Shisui and Kakashi possess, the daimyo will be easily swayed, and once he learns that you are going to train him so that Jiraiya may continue his training, he will overrule Danzo, of that we have no doubt," Koharu concluded as Itachi nodded. The reasoning was quite sound.

"I accept," Itachi nodded as the three elders nodded gravely.

"Itachi, know this," Sarutobi began gravely, "Once he learns that Naruto has been entrusted to your care, Danzo will become your greatest enemy. Above all else, he desires the boy, and with the knowledge of his bloodline, he will stop at nothing to make that a certainty. He will even attempt to use the rumors that the Kyuubi can be controlled by the Sharingan to turn the village against you and the boy, to force you to hand him over to the council if necessary. You must prepare a way to counter his accusations, basically put, there is no underhanded means he won't resort to in order to gain the boy, you must protect Naruto at all costs," Sarutobi warned the youngster quietly.

Itachi remained silent for a while, and then spoke out, "Hokage-sama, I believe I have a means by which Danzo can be stopped even before he begins his efforts to gain the boy," Itachi spoke as the eyes of the three elders widened.

"Go on," Koharu spoke cautiously and Itachi began to outline his plan, "The boy's status is his greatest weakness, while his heritage is his greatest strength. Let us use that. Once I complete my mission, we will stage the death of Uzumaki Naruto and re-introduce him to the world as _Namikaze Kurei_, the son of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. Only thing is that he will be known as the wielder of the Enjutsu bloodline and not as the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. That secret will die off with the death of Uzumaki Naruto as well. Of course, this can't be hidden from Danzo, but we can forcibly co-opt him into this plan, by making him be present when we present this plan to the Daimyo for approval, and he will have no choice but to go along with it. And once that happens, he will be forced to keep the secret of the Kyuubi as per the orders of the daimyo himself, and from then on, he cannot resort to any sort of means to gain the possession of the boy. After all, the council would never allow the only son of the Yondaime Hokage to join such a barbaric program as the accelerated training program of Root, will it? Besides, once the daimyo agrees to make him my student, as the new head of the Uchiha clan, I will officially make him a ward of the Uchiha clan, and with such a prestigious clan as the Uchiha vouching for the boy's safety, the rest of the council will have no objections as well, am I not correct in saying so?" Itachi spoke out, while the three elders sat stunned in silence as they watched the genius ANBU create a plan of the likes which even Orochimaru in his best days would not have been able to conceive of in mere minutes.

"Agreed, you carry on with your mission, Itachi, we will handle the preparations for this," Sarutobi nodded after a moment at which Itachi nodded and left with a bow, to face his own demons.

Once the boy had left, Sarutobi turned towards a corner and asked quietly, "What do you think?"

From the corner, with a shimmering light, Jiraiya came out looking unusually somber, "The kid is good, real good, in a few years, he might even be a good enough replacement for Minato. His heart is in the right place though," the toad sage spoke as the three elders considered his words.

"What about Naruto?" Koharu asked quietly.

"His bloodline is maturing too rapidly. He is absorbing the Youki much quickly than I anticipated. Fukasaku had to devise a buffer seal to provide some means of chakra control, but it is not like he needs it any more. With his bloodline, he has no need ever of learning any Ninjutsu, or other such offensive techniques. By his thirteenth birthday, he will be strong enough to burn Konoha to ashes if he wants to," Jiraiya finished as the three elders nodded grimly.

"Thank you for coming, Jiraiya," Sarutobi spoke out as Jiraiya waved it away.

"I wanted to see the kid, whom you were saying was the next Minato too. He is no Minato, but he is in a class of his own. That kid is one of a kind. I never thought I would see a day when a decent Uchiha would come forth. Heh, Uchiha Madara must be rolling in his grave in agony," Jiraiya muttered snidely as thin smiles adorned the faces of the elders.

"Just be glad that the kid agreed to take Naruto in, because if he hadn't, tomorrow you would have been attending Danzo's funeral. There is nothing that I will not hesitate to do, to keep that motherfucker away from my godson, remember that," and with that abrupt warning, Jiraiya vanished, leaving three very troubled elders behind.

* * *

**AUTHORS NOTE**

**P.S. 1.** Although this story contains some elements of the anime 'Flame of Recca' it is limited only to the character of Kurei, and his abilities. There will be no mention of any other characters from that anime, like Madogu or Karyuu or flame dragons, or that of any other characters from that anime as well.

**P.S. 2.** If you are asking, why Itachi is trying to explain all this, and why just kill Fugaku instead of being tasked to kill his entire clan as a solo mission, then know this. He is right now, only a skilled ANBU, a very highly skilled ANBU, but just that, and not the super God-mode ninja that we see him as in the anime and in the manga. Besides that, even Itachi was not strong enough to take on the entire clan single handedly. It is for that reason that he sought out Madara, got training from him, and killed Shisui to get the Mangekyo Sharingan to become a Yondaime-class ninja, so that he could wipe out his clan single handedly.

**P.S. 3.** He will still gain the Mangekyo though, and you will see how in the next chapter.

**P.S. 4.** Oh yeah, Madara and Danzo enter, stage left, next chapter, be prepared for lots of evil plotting.


	2. Six years later & Enemies gather

**_Hokage's chambers, the village of Konohagakure no Sato,_**

* * *

A gently warming sun shone down on Konoha that middle of spring, bringing the first shirtsleeves to the streets and the first rich, red roses to the garden outside the windows of the office of the Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. But though the windows were open and the fresh smells of grass and flowers wafted into the private sanctum of the most powerful room in the world, the attention of the five people present was focused upon other plants in a far and foreign country.

Takeda Shingen, the daimyo of Hi no Kuni, and by far, acknowledged as the most powerful daimyo currently in the elemental nations, sat in the chair usually occupied by the Hokage, by virtue of his position, for as long as he was in the village, it was he who would be the top person in charge, over even the hokage.

Seated in upright armchairs across the desk from the daimyo were the four people who had asked to see him alone that day. Closest to him in personal terms was the hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who had been his military advisor for years. Next to Sarutobi were Homura and Koharu, the twin DIRECTORS of the shinobi administrative apparatus of entire Hi no Kuni, and last was Danzo, the other major advisor of the daimyo.

The daimyo shuffled some high level photographs in front of him on the desk and handed them back to Homura, who rose to accept them and placed them back in a folder.

"All right," he said slowly, "So, you have shown me that the wheat crop in a small portion of Kaze no Kuni, maybe even only in the few acres shown in these pictures, is coming up defective. What does it prove?"

"What you are seeing, daimyo-sama," Danzo began after looking at the other three and receiving a nod to continue, "Is quite possibly the advent of a famine in Kaze no Kuni. Daimyo-sama, as we all know, Kaze no Kuni is a desert country, at least 40% of its lands are arid, hot deserts. And yet, they are one of the five major countries. Now, coming back to this, we know that Kaze no Kuni has around a total grain target of one hundred and eighty million metric tons. Now this breaks down into goal targets of eighty million tons of wheat, thirty million tons of barley, and fourteen of maize or corn, and the remainder of a mixture of rice, millet buckwheat and leguminous grains."

He rose and came round the desk to the curved ceiling-to-floor windows behind the hokage's chair. He had the habit of pacing around when talking.

"Last December the provinces of Mutsu, and Tora, the two major provinces which contain around forty percent of the scant agricultural lands of Kaze no Kuni were covered by a freak thaw during the early days. They've had them before, but never as warm. A great wave of warm air swept in from the deserts and rolled northeastward over Mutsu and Tora. It lasted about a week and melted the first coverings of snow, about six inches deep, to water. The young wheat and barley stems were exposed. Ten days later, as if to make up, the same freak weather patterns hammered the whole area with frosts going, fifteen, even twenty degrees, below zero."

"Which did the wheat a power of no good," suggested the daimyo.

"Daimyo-sama," Koharu interjected, "our best agricultural experts have estimated that they will be lucky if they manage to salvage fifty percent of their crops. The damage was massive and irreparable."

"So, what is it that you are saying, that they are having some major problems in growing crops, is that what you want to tell me?" the daimyo interjected as Danzo paused.

"No, my lord," said Danzo, "that is the point of this meeting. The other sixty percent of their crops, which come from provinces other than these two, are wilting as well."

"Just what the hell is happening over there, Danzo?"

"Something very odd, my lord. Something is happening to the Kaze no Kuni grain crops. All the remaining sixty percent of their crop is spring wheat, put down as seed in March/April after the thaw. It is coming up stunted, sporadic, and sparse, like it was hit by some kind of blight."

"Weather again?"

"No. They had a damp winter and spring over this area, but nothing serious. Now the sun has come out, the weather is perfect, warm and dry."

"Just how widespread is this blight?"

Sarutobi spoke up, "We don't know, daimyo-sama. We tend to concentrate on military concentrations, of course: troop movements; and particularly we tend to focus more on Sunagakure no Sato, their hidden village as opposed to their entire country. But what we have indicates that it must indeed be widespread."

"So, what are you after?"

"What we'd like," resumed Danzo, "is your go-ahead to spend a lot more on this problem, find out just how big this is for them, in actual terms. It will mean trying to send in delegations, businessmen. And of course, diverting some of our ANBU reconnaissance squads from non-priority tasks as well. We believe it is in Hi no Kuni's vital interest to find out just exactly what it is that Kaze no Kuni is going to have to handle out there."

The Daimyo considered it for a while as he glanced out of the window. He rose.

"Very well, people. You have it. By my authority. This is one I think we need to know. But I want an answer within thirty days."

He had no idea that his counterpart in Kaze no Kuni was involved in a meeting of similar nature at that same time as well.

* * *

**_The palace of Imagawa Yoshimoto, the daimyo of Kaze no Kuni,_**

* * *

The Land of Wind was one of the five major powers of the elemental nations. It was located south-west of the Land of Fire and shared borders with the Land of Rivers and the Land of Rain. The country covered a vast realm, but that realm was largely comprised of deserts. Because there is very little rainfall throughout the year, the people of the country live in villages built on one of the desert's many oases. Despite the country's extremely harsh environment, it has a large population.

Unlike other major powers, the rulers of Kaze no Kuni were far more autocratic, and their rule absolute. Because of the harsh nature of life in the desert, the nation enforced its orders with a rod of iron.

That morning, the royal council of Kaze no Kuni had been convened on an impromptu conference. It was unusual, for they had received no agenda, just a summons. And the men who grouped in the chamber sensed with the perceptive collective nose for danger that had brought them all to this pinnacle, that something of importance was afoot.

Seated in his usual chair at the centre point of the head of the table was the daimyo of Kaze no Kuni, Imagawa Yoshimoto. At the age of eighty-one he was craggy, brooding and intensely cunning; had he not been the latter he would never have occupied the chair that he currently sat on, as the sole survivor of the vicious infighting that had taken place in his family for his throne after his father's death. To his left and right, he was flanked by four attendants from his own personal retainers, men loyal to him personally above all else.

The other members of the council ranged themselves, six a side, down the stem of the T-shaped table. At the far end of the arm of the table was one single chair. The council checked numbers to make sure no one was missing. For the empty seat was the penal chair, sat in only by a man on his last appearance in that room, a man forced to listen to his own denunciation by his former colleagues, a man facing disgrace and ruin, and possible execution. The custom had always been to delay the condemned man until, on entering; he found all the seats taken and only the penal chair free. Then he would learn. But today the chair was unoccupied and all of them were present.

Yoshimoto leaned back and surveyed his council members. To his left on the stem of the table was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, his personal protégé and his illegitimate son, although no one ever dared to speak that out loud. Yoshimoto knew that he could count on his son in the trouble that lay ahead. Beside Hideyoshi was Kashamaru, his most trusted minister, who would side with him because he had nowhere else to go. Beyond him was Akasuna no Sasori, the legendary erstwhile shinobi of Sunagakure, and the head of the daimyo's personal shinobi guard, the Ju-Nii banwa. Slim and ruthless, the red-haired man stood out like a sore thumb in the room, and instilled fear in the hearts of the council members. Sasori would side with him simply because of the opposition that would come from quarters that hated Sasori and wanted him destroyed.

On the other side of the table sat Oda Nobunaga, his chief general, also young, and more importantly, also the nephew of Yoshimoto, and by that right the one who would succeed him after Yoshimoto passed on. Extremely ambitious and shrewd, his ruthlessness made him even more dangerous. The opposition would come from here, Yoshimoto knew. Next to him was the Yondaime Kazekage, the leader of the hidden village of Sand, and the one in command of all their shinobi forces, save for the one's under the personal command of Sasori and his group. The Kazekage would side with where the interests of his village would lead him.

Soon, at his nod, two of the guards opened the doors and led in a court official who looked harangued and terrified.

"Let me present Eikichiro Sado-san, my good friends," the daimyo growled, as the man advanced timorously to the end of the table and stood waiting, his sweat-damp report in his hands. "He is the one in charge of maintaining the agricultural ministry of our government, and he has a report for our attention. Proceed, Sado-san."

"My lords," the man began hesitantly, "Last December and January our long-range weather forecasters predicted an unusually damp winter and early spring. As a result and in accordance with our habitual practice, it was decided that the seed grains given to our peasants for the spring planting should be dressed with a prophylactic dressing to inhibit fungoid infections that would probably be prevalent as a result of the dampness. This has been done many times before."

"The dressing selected was a dual-purpose seed dressing: an organo-mercury compound to inhibit fungoid attack on the germinating grain and a pesticide and bird-repellant called Lindane. It was agreed that Kaze no Kuni, following the unfortunate damage to the winter wheat crop, would need at least one hundred and eighty million tons of crop from the spring wheat plantings, and it would be necessary to sow six and a quarter million tons of seed grain in order to gain the desired output."

All eyes were on him now. The fidgeting stilled. The council members could smell danger a mile off. Sado wilted as the members of the council sensing blood, bored in on him swiveling their eyes over his hunched figure.

The man swallowed hard and went on, "At the rate of two ounces of organo-mercury seed dressing per ton of grain, the requirement was for three hundred and fifty tons of dressing. There were only seventy tons in stock. An immediate order was sent to the manufacturing plant for this dressing at Mutsu to go into immediate production to make up the required two hundred and eighty tons."

"Is there only one such factory?" asked Hideyoshi.

"Hai. The tonnages required do not justify more factories. The Mutsu factory is a major chemical plant, near our iron ore mines, making many insecticides, weed-killers, fertilizers and so forth. The production of two hundred and eighty tons would take less than forty hours."

"Continue," ordered Yoshimoto.

"Due to some confusion in communication, the factory was undergoing annual maintenance at that time, and time was running short," the man paused as he looked at the council members.

"If the dressing was to be distributed to all the provinces," the man continued, "then the plant would have to be forced to halt maintenance and resume work. As such, an energetic young official and minor court bureaucrat was sent to supervise and hurry things along. It appears that he ordered the plant workers to terminate what they were doing, restore the plant to operating order and start it functioning again, immediately."

"He failed to do it in time?" rasped the general, Oda Nobunaga.

"No, lord general, the plant started work again, although the maintenance work had not been quite finished. But something malfunctioned. A hopper valve. Lindane is a very powerful chemical, and the dosage of the Lindane to the remainder of the organo-mercury compound had to be strictly regulated. At that time, the valve showed the quantity of Lindane being injected at one-thirds, when it actually was at full capacity, and nobody noticed that the needle on the valve had stuck, and by the time they had, it was too late."

"What about quality control?" asked one of the other members who had been brought up on a farm. Sado swallowed again, and wished he could quietly go into exile rather than endure any more of this torture.

"There was a conjunction of coincidence and error," he confessed. "The person in charge of analysis and quality-control was away at the time, due to a death in his family, and was thus delayed before he could arrive on time, and by the time he did, the production was complete."

"The dressing was not tested?" Hideyoshi asked in incredulity. Eikichiro Sado looked more sick than ever.

"The analyst did insist on making quality-control tests. However, the young bureaucrat who had been sent from the capital wanted the entire production shipped at once. An argument ensued. In the event a compromise was reached. The chemist wanted to test every tenth bag of dressing, twenty-eight in all. The bureaucrat insisted that he could have only one. That was when the third error occurred."

"The new bags had been stacked along with the reserve of seventy tons left over from last year. In the warehouse, one of the loaders, a peasant, receiving an order to send one single bag to the laboratory for testing, selected one of the old bags, instead of the ones produced newly. Tests proved it was perfectly in order and the entire consignment was shipped."

He ended his report. There was nothing more to say. He could have tried to explain that a conjunction of three mistakes – a mechanical malfunction, an error of judgment between two men under pressure and a piece of carelessness by a warehouseman - had combined to produce the catastrophe. But that was not his job, and he did not intend to make lame excuses for other men. The silence in the room was murderous.

Nobunaga came in with icy clarity.

"What exactly is the effect of an excessive component of Lindane in this organo-mercury compound?" he asked.

"My lord General, it causes a toxic effect against the germinating seed in the ground, rather than a protective effect. The seedlings come up, if at all, stunted, sparse and mottled brown. There is virtually no grain yield from such affected stems."

"And how much of the spring planting has been affected?" Nobunaga asked coldly.

"Just about four-fifths, my lord general. The seventy tons of reserve compound was perfectly all right. The two hundred and eighty tons of new compound was all affected by the jammed hopper valve."

"And the toxic dressing was all mixed in with seed grain and planted?"

"Yes, my lord."

Two minutes later, the very relieved man was dismissed, to his privacy and oblivion. Nobunaga turned towards Hideyoshi.

"Forgive my ignorance, cousin, but it would appear you had some prior knowledge of this affair. What has happened to the bungling bureaucrat who produced this mess?" he asked with an icy glare as the other members of the council fidgeted nervously.

Sasori cut in smoothly, "He is in our hands," he said, "along with that analyst and that warehouseman, who is simply of exceptionally low intelligence, and the maintenance team of engineers who claim that they demanded and received written instructions to wind up their work before they had finished."

"That bureaucrat, has he talked?" Nobunaga asked quietly.

Sasori considered a mental image of the broken man in the cellars beneath the infamous desert prison of Kaze no Kuni.

"Extensively," he said.

"Is he a saboteur, an agent of our enemies?"

"No," said Sasori with a sigh. "Just an idiot; an ambitious minor court official trying to over-fulfill his orders. You can believe me on that one. We do know by now the inside of that man's skull."

"Then one last question, just so that we can all be sure of the dimension of this affair," Nobunaga swung back to the decidedly testy looking Hideyoshi. "We already know that we will only have fifty million tons of the expected hundred million from the winter crop. How much will we get from this defective spring crop in the coming October?"

Hideyoshi glanced at Yoshimoto who nodded imperceptibly.

"Out of the hundred-and- eighty-million-ton target for the spring sown wheat and other grains, we cannot reasonably expect more than thirty million tons," he said quietly.

The meeting sat in stunned horror.

"That means a total yield over both crops of eighty million tons," breathed Kashamaru. "A national shortfall of one-hundred-million tons. We could have taken a shortfall of even fifty millions, even seventy, but not this. We've done it before, endured the shortages and bought what we could from elsewhere. But this…,"

Yoshimoto closed the meeting.

"We face one of the gravest crises our country has ever faced. We will adjourn for a fortnight, after which we will reconvene and consider what can be done to ameliorate the situation," he spoke softly as everybody nodded and left. As they were leaving Hideyoshi turned towards an impassive Sasori, "This does not mean shortage. It means Famine."

* * *

**_Two weeks later,_**

* * *

On the day the council reconvened, the mood in the council chambers was akin to what could be seen in a funeral parlor.

Yoshimoto as usual surveyed them all through his drifting gaze. Hideyoshi as usual was at his left, with Sasori behind him, and Kashamaru at his right. The Kazekage and Nobunaga were at the opposite end, sitting in stony silence.

Yoshimoto began slowly, "You have all studied the report given two weeks ago by Eikichiro Sado at your leisure. Let us consider the first questions first. Can Kaze no Kuni survive for one year on no more than eighty million tons of grain."

The discussion lasted an hour. It was bitter, acrimonious but virtually unanimous. Such a shortage of grain would lead to privations that had not been seen since the second Shinobi war. If the nation bought in an even incredible minimum to make bread for the cities, the countryside would be left with almost nothing. The slaughter of livestock, as the winter snows covered the grazing lands, and the beasts were left without forage and food stocks, would strip Kaze no Kuni of every four-footed animal. It would take a generation to recover the livestock herds.

At last the daimyo cut them short.

"Very well, if we insist on weathering the famine, both in grains, and as a consequence, in meat, what would be the outcome in terms of national discipline?" the daimyo asked quietly, although everybody knew the answer. Nobody, not even Nobunaga dared to pick up the gauntlet and voice out the answer.

Finally, Hideyoshi took the plunge, "It will be the end of Kaze no Kuni as we know it, the masses will break out in open revolt, and the land will descend into a level of anarchy so widespread, that even the armed forces and the shinobi forces cannot hope to contain it. I would not be surprised if they joined in on the revolt as well," he ended quietly, while Nobunaga and the Kazekage scowled but they held their peace as they knew it to be the truth.

When Hideyoshi dropped his bombshell there was silence again around the table. Imagawa Yoshimoto broke it.

"Very well. The conclusion is inescapable. We will have to buy in like never before. Kashamaru, what is the minimum we need to buy from abroad to avoid disaster?"

"Daimyo-sama, if we leave the irreducible minimum on the countryside, and use every scrap of reserve we have, at the minimum we will need to buy at least fifty-five to sixty million tons of grain. That would mean the entire surplus; in a year of bumper crops, and the only country in the world with that level of surplus is Hi no Kuni."

"They'll never sell it to us," shouted Nobunaga.

"They are not fools, general," Sasori cut in, "Their own intelligence agencies must be already aware that something drastic is going on in our agriculture department. Besides, we cannot possibly hide millions of acres of barren farmlands from the eyes of the world, can we? No, they will learn of it. And they will try to make use of our dire straits and extort us; at least that is what I suspect."

"I agree with you on one point, Sasori, but not on the other," said Yoshimoto, "They may have the wheat, and we may raise the money to buy it, but it is possible that they might try to get 'concessions' in return."

At the word 'concession' everyone stiffened.

"What kind of concession?" asked Nobunaga suspiciously.

"One never knows until one negotiates," said Yoshimoto, "but it's a possibility we have to face. They might require concessions in military areas…,"

"Absolutely not…," shouted Nobunaga as he stood up, on his feet and red-faced.

"Our options are somewhat closed, nephew," the daimyo spoke coldly at which the younger man stiffened, "We appear to have agreed that a severe and nationwide famine is not tolerable. It will set us back by at least a decade, in worth of economic progress. We need the grain; there are no more options. If the tree huggers in fire country and the leaf village exact concessions in the military field, we may have to accept a drawback lasting two or three years; but only in order all the better to advance after the recovery."

There was a general murmur of assent. Yoshimoto was on the verge of carrying the meeting.

Then Nobunaga struck. He rose slowly as the buzz subsided.

"The issues before us, uncle," he began with silky reasonableness, "are massive, with incalculable consequences. I propose that this is too early to reach any binding conclusion. I propose an adjournment until this day fortnight while we all think over what has been said and suggested."

His ploy worked. He had bought his time, as Yoshimoto had feared he would. After a while, he reluctantly gave his assent and the meeting adjourned.

* * *

That night, Yoshimoto summoned both Hideyoshi and Sasori to his chambers. As soon as the two men were seated, he began without preamble, "I have asked you both here because there is trouble brewing and we both know it," he rumbled. "I am getting too old for this trouble," the old man coughed as he looked at the two young men whom he had come to see as his sons.

"The question of succession hangs in the balance, and we all know it," Yoshimoto continued. "We also know, or should, that Nobunaga wants it."

He turned to Hideyoshi.

"If he gets it, my son, it will be the end of you. I have wronged you dearly, if only your mother had not died in childbirth, she would have become my wife, instead of my mistress, and you would have been the true heir. But still, more than half the council, and more importantly, the people know you, and they accept you. And that is something that your cousin is no longer willing to tolerate. The laws of succession are clear. Only a true heir of the family may succeed to the throne, and as my sister's son, Nobunaga is the one. However, you too can ascend the throne, but only, and only if he is proven unfit. In case of the sole remaining pureblood heir being declared unfit, an heir born of an unsanctioned wedlock may ascend the throne, that is the law, and even I cannot dare break it," he spoke softly as Hideyoshi lowered his eyes.

"If he takes over, now or ever, it will also be the end of you, Sasori-kun," Yoshimoto told Sasori who nodded stiffly. In private, he could talk with them on a personal level, but never in public.

Sasori nodded that he understood. The problem was not Nobunaga, for him personally. It was in fact Nobunaga's right hand man, who happened to be his brother-in-law, the man who was now known worldwide as the Yondaime Kazekage. Years ago, when the Sandaime Kazekage had staged a rebellion, he and his brother-in-law had lead the offensive against the man. Although, it was Sasori who had disposed of the man, it was the Yondaime Kazekage, then the high Jonin of Sunagakure, who had been given the credit and the seat of the 4th Kazekage. Disenchanted, Sasori had left the employ of Sunagakure, and had instead accepted the patronage of the daimyo who had seen the true worth of the man. However, their antagonism went far beyond personal antipathy. The Yondaime Kazekage, on suggestion from Nobunaga had consented to turn his youngest son into the jinchuuriki of the Suna no Shukaku, resulting in the death of his sister. Only the personal intervention of half the ninja forces of Sunagakure, and his grandmother Chiyo, had resulted in the Kazekage being left alive to date, forever forced to wear a veil to cover the humiliating scars on his face for the rest of his life.

"One last thing," Yoshimoto began, "Nobunaga is up to something. I still hold power, but it is tenuous at best. The majority of the armed forces are loyal to me, but reports state that commanders of seven of the nineteen provinces have pledged their loyalty to Nobunaga. So, he is now emboldened and will not hesitate to do anything that he believes is right. He is an extremist, you both know that. If he succeeds me, we are all finished. Perhaps Kaze no Kuni too. He has imperialistic ambitions, and he is a ruthless extremist; he is impeccable on theory, but impossible on practicalities. Now I have to know what he is doing, and what he is going to spring. Sasori, find out for me, before it becomes too late for all of us."

* * *

**_The chambers of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato,_**

* * *

Five hundred miles away, Takeda Shingen was in conclave with Sarutobi, Homura, Koharu and Danzo. Along with them, was captain Tenzo, of the ANBU reconnaissance division, as well as Torune, the head of Root investigative section.

"Tenzo, Torune, are you sure beyond any reasonable doubt that the information gathered by your subordinates in these reports is accurate?" he asked, his eyes once again, running down the columns of numbers in front of him.

The reports that his ninja intelligence divisions had given him consisted of the breakdown of the entire Kaze no Kuni, down to its seventeen provinces. From each zone, his spies had analyzed samples, and had drawn up the nationwide grain forecast.

"Daimyo-sama, if we err, it is on the side of caution, by giving Kaze no Kuni a better grain crop than they have the right to expect," replied Homura.

"So, what you are basically telling me is that, they are going to a have a food shortage, which will go down in history books as a record. And that we are the only ones who can bail them out of it. Is that it?"

"Correct, Daimyo-sama," cut in Danzo. "Maybe even more, we expect that even if they use all their reserves, they will still have a shortage of around forty million tons, and we are the only ones with that kind of a bumper crop in the entire elemental nations, this year," Danzo pressed his point.

"Daimyo-sama now is the time. We have to act. We have to require a quid pro quo from them."

"Linkage?" asked the daimyo suspiciously. "I know your thoughts on that, Danzo. Last time, we pressed them too far, and it backfired. I for one do not have any desire to fight another war with Imagawa Yoshimoto, again."

"The point of blackmail, Daimyo-sama," Danzo pressed on recklessly, "is that you must be sure that the victim simply cannot do without what you have in your possession, and that he cannot acquire it anywhere else. This time around, they cannot get their wheat elsewhere. Our wheat surplus is no longer a trading matter. It is a strategic weapon. It is worth ten regiments of soldiers and ninjas. I implore you to seriously consider what I am proposing."

After a moment, the daimyo conceded. "Very well, Danzo. I will authorize my treasurer to use the royal funds to buy the surplus of bumper crop that our peasants will give us this year."

Danzo was jubilant.

"You won't regret it daimyo-sama. This time, they will have to deal with you directly, without dealing with our trade unions. We have them over a barrel. There is nothing they can do."

* * *

Oda Nobunaga thought differently. At the outset of the next council meeting of the royal council of Kaze no Kuni, he asked for the floor and got it.

"No one here, denies that the famine that faces us in unacceptable. No one denies that the surplus of food grains in Hi no Kuni is the only chance we have of ameliorating this problem. It has been suggested that the only thing we can do is to humble ourselves, possibly accept concessions in our military might and therefore abase ourselves in front of the world."

"I disagree, and I ask you, uncle, to join me in rejection of the course of yielding to blackmail and betraying our great nation. There is one other way; one other way in which we can avert this disaster and that also lays with Hi no Kuni."

"You suggest that we not buy from them, then what do you suggest? That we beg?" Kashamaru asked sarcastically.

"No," replied Nobunaga, "We take them. I will outline my plan for you, one that the Kazekage and I have been working on for the last week."

Hideyoshi, Yoshimoto and Sasori were the only ones who maintained an impassive silence, as they had anticipated that Nobunaga would try something like this. They listened as the man outlined his plan.

And it was impressive; they admitted grudgingly, as in the next three hours, the general and the Kazekage outlined it in detail.

During the following May, as a routine precursor which would occur before the Chunin Ninjutsu Promotion exams each year, the yearly maneuvers of the armies of Kaze no Kuni which would usually take place, would this year be larger than normal. But with a difference, it would no longer be a drill, but the real thing. On the command, their entire Samurai forces would roll into Hi no Kuni, while the forces of Sunagakure no Sato, would use the chunin exams to infiltrate Konohagakure no Sato, and neutralize them. With the pressures of internal security on the rise due to the chunin exams, the ninja forces of Hi no Kuni, which would be stretched beyond breaking point would be overwhelmed and broken.

At the same time, they would claim that this would be done because of a pre-emptive strike conducted by Hi no Kuni and Konoha in their territory. To that extent, he even suggested razing a few of their own villages on the borders to lend credence to their claims at which Yoshimoto frowned.

"And the samurai forces of Hi no Kuni, all this time?" Hideyoshi interrupted. Nobunaga looked irritated at being stopped in full flow after ninety minutes.

"Their response right across the face of Kaze no Kuni cannot be ignored," pursued Nobunaga. "However, if Konohagakure no Sato is neutralized first, that in itself will demoralize the forces of Hi no Kuni. Much of the legend of infallibility of Hi no Kuni, is due to the efforts of their hidden village, and once it is removed, we will have no problems," he concluded.

"Duration?" Sasori asked quietly.

"The mobilization will begin during the preliminary stages of the Chunin exams, and the assault will be conducted on the final phase of the exams, when many international dignitaries will be present. Of course, some casualties in their group will also contribute to Hi no Kuni losing face internationally, as they will be responsible for guaranteeing the safety of those people in the first place."

The silence was heavy as the perspectives sank in. The vast storehouse of food, the fertile agricultural lands, and the resource rich mineral stores of Hi no Kuni, all that, to be annexed. Within a few years, the minor surrounding lands, Wave, River, Tree and all the other minor vassal states of Hi no Kuni who were similarly rich in resources, but lacking in the manpower that the great nation possessed, all of them under their flag. The domination of the entire world, without a protest from other nations, because of the rapid nature of the assault. It was a heady mixture.

"It is a fine scenario, nephew," Yoshimoto cut in at last with a scathing tone, "but it all seems to be based on one assumption. That Hi no Kuni will allow our forces to walk over them. I would like to hear if you have any corroboration for this confident declaration. In short, is it a proven fact, or a fond hope?"

"More than a hope," snapped Nobunaga. "A realistic calculation. Hi no Kuni and its ninjas are sentimentalist fools, who always think of themselves first. They are paper tigers, weak and indecisive. Above all, when the prospect of losing their own lives faces them, they are cowards."

"Are they indeed? Then perhaps you can explain to me, why Konoha and Hi no Kuni have been victorious in every war they have fought since the system of hidden villages came into existence? Your plan… nephew, is realistic in every sense, but the fact is that its outcome is based on hope, not on actual reality. I perceive no new element to justify the calculation that you have presented. Kashamaru?" he referred to his minister who was white-faced.

"All this smacks of adventurism. I have spent all my life dealing with foreign affairs. Ambassadors around the world report to me, not to the general. None of them; nor I; are of any doubt that Hi no Kuni would respond with brutal retaliation. Takeda Shingen is no fool, even he too can see that the outcome of such a war would be the domination of the world by Kaze no Kuni. It would be the end of Hi no Kuni as a major power, the end of Konohagakure as a major power. They will raze us to the ground, before they yield the world over to us."

Nobunaga's face began to color up.

"I would point out that if they do," said Yoshimoto, "We cannot as yet stop them. Our forces are still being rebuilt after our war with Tsuchi no Kuni and Iwagakure no Sato. And furthermore, while I do accept the abilities of our hidden village, I doubt whether they have the capacity to prevail over Konohagakure, the village universally acknowledged as the strongest hidden village in the world," he spoke curtly while the Yondaime Kazekage's face colored up, much to Sasori's satisfaction.

"Besides," Hideyoshi interjected, "The legends of the prowess of the shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato is well known. Their rosters are filled with luminaries such as The Sandaime Hokage, who is called as 'The God of Shinobi'; The Densetsu no Sannin; The Uchiha Clan and The Hyuuga clan and of course, _The Yellow Flash of Konoha_," he ended with a pause as the faces of everybody cringed at the name of the Yondaime Hokage while the Kazekage shook in impotent rage.

After the victory over the Sandaime Kazekage, drunk with his successes over both the man and Sasori, the Yondaime Kazekage had foolishly entered into combat with the Yellow Flash over a battle at a minor border skirmish, believing himself to be superior to the man, ignoring the fact that it was Sasori and not him, who had beaten the Sandaime Kazekage. The result of that battle had left him bed-ridden for a year.

"Compared to such luminaries," Hideyoshi continued softly, "I admit that the roster of our hidden village seems quite lacking," he finished at which the Yondaime Kazekage snarled.

"Not anymore," Nobunaga interjected softly, "The might of Konoha is but a thing of past. The Sandaime Hokage is old and weakened now, and the Sannin have fractured and one of them has in fact turned rogue, and the Yellow Flash is dead as well. They have not yet recovered completely from the devastation that the Kyuubi no Yoko inflicted on them, thirteen years ago."

"Besides, we have a trump card of our own, namely, Gaara," the Kazekage spoke out while the mood in the room changed dramatically.

Sabaku no Gaara, the youngest child of the current Kazekage, and the jinchuuriki of the Ichibi, and quite possibly the most powerful ninja in Sunagakure currently. Although, merely thirteen years old, the Jinchuuriki of the Ichibi had built a fearsome reputation in the ninja world, and his name was known all over. He was to date, the only Genin ranked shinobi in the world to have made it to the Bingo-book, the infamous worldwide bounty hit-list of shinobi.

The implications were not missed. Using a Jinchuuriki was akin to making the ultimate statement in international affairs, and it was a public showcase of might.

"He is but one shinobi, Nobunaga, besides you forget that Konoha appears to have a jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, which I believe surpasses the Ichibi, what do you have to say to that?" Yoshimoto asked quietly.

"It has been confirmed that the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi perished six years ago," the Kazekage spoke with a victorious smirk on his face.

"Still, the Sandaime Hokage is considered as the 'God of Shinobi', a man who single handedly defeated all the other Kage's in combat at the same time. Granted, he is now old, but his prowess cannot be disputed, what if he prevails over Gaara?"

"That is what I wish to clear, uncle, we will not be alone in this venture, we have received an offer of alliance, from the land of Rice," Nobunaga spoke out as everybody jerked upright.

Yoshimoto narrowed his eyes, "Nobunaga, what is the meaning of this?" the old daimyo asked in anger.

"We have received an offer of alliance, uncle, from the Land of Rice, which has created its own hidden village, known as Otogakure no Sato. And its head is the one man who has the power to prevail over even 'The God of Shinobi'," he spoke as the eyes of everyone narrowed.

"And who is that?" Kashamaru asked carefully.

"Orochimaru, of the Densetsu no Sannin," Nobunaga spoke firmly at which even Yoshimoto's eyes went wide.

"You would trust the word of a man who betrayed his own home, to aid us? What is the guarantee that he will not betray us?" Hideyoshi asked in consternation.

"Orochimaru has a personal vendetta against Konoha, and he has agreed to personally look to the Sandaime Hokage, and in return, all that the Land of Rice and Otogakure ask of us, is that once Hi no Kuni is defeated, we internationally accept Rice as the newest member of the major five and grant Kage status to Otogakure," Nobunaga finished in a triumphant tone as others stood still, shocked at the breach of authority conducted by the General.

"You overreach yourself, nephew," Yoshimoto snarled in anger while Nobunaga looked shocked at being reprimanded so directly in front of the entire council, "Not only do you go beyond my back and negotiate with other nations using my name, you also make promises that which if you fail to fulfill, would tarnish my name and that of my nation!!Who do you think you are? Remember that you are but a general, and that as the Daimyo only I possess the right to make such decisions," the old man snarled while Nobunaga looked deeply offended.

"I apologize if it offends your delicate senses, uncle," the man spoke out snidely at which half the members of the council stood up with a shocked gasp, "I see that your age has sapped you of your will power. You are willing to abase ourselves in front of our enemies, instead of using our might to gain what we require. As such, as heir to the throne, I hereby call for your abdication, seeing that you are no longer capable of making judgments which are in the favor of our nation," he spoke silkily while Hideyoshi drew his sword in anger.

"So, it comes to this," Yoshimoto sighed as he restrained his son from attacking his cousin, while everybody stood entranced watching the regal old man look with sorrow at his defiant nephew.

"Very well, Nobunaga, I will consider your request, but first, Sasori has gained some interesting intelligence, which I believe we should listen to," the old man spoke as he sat down showing enormous dignity, following which, everyone except Nobunaga and the Kazekage sat down as well.

"The Yellow Flash of Konoha," Sasori began after a tense silence had settled down in the chamber, at which everybody stiffened, "has a son," the red haired man concluded much to the shock of everybody else.

The effect of that simple statement turned the atmosphere of the room electric. Nearly every member stood up screaming in protest and anger at hearing that, as Nobunaga's jaws dropped open in shock while the Kazekage looked equally flustered.

Namikaze Minato's reputation as the man who had single handedly destroyed the combined armies of Tsuchi no Kuni's samurai forces as well as Iwagakure's ninjas still gave nightmares to rulers and politicians worldwide. That battle had led to the public emasculation of Tsuchi no Kuni and to the death of the Sandaime Tsuchikage, and had forced the legendary Nidaime Tsuchikage, Ryoutenbin no Onoki, to come out of retirement. It had conversely led to Earth country gaining the reputation as the weakest of the five.

To hear that he had a son, who was also a ninja, sent a thunderflash down the robes of many men present in the chamber.

If the boy had inherited even a fraction of his father's prowess…then…

Mindful of the furor he had caused, Sasori gave Nobunaga and the Kazekage an additional dosage of the bad news, "His name is Namikaze Kurei, and it seems that he will be making his debut in this chunin exam. He has been trained personally by Uchiha Itachi, Uchiha Shisui and Hatake Kakashi," he paused as the eyes of many of the councilors went wide in horror, as they heard the names of the three men who were unofficially considered as the new Sannin.

"Furthermore, it is rumored that he has also been trained by Jiraiya of the Densetsu no Sannin, who is also rumored to be attending these exams, to publicly proclaim the boy as his next apprentice after the exams; so even with Orochimaru present, the advantages that your combined forces gain, General, will be nullified by the presence of Jiraiya-san, and it is also unconfirmed at this point, but it seems that Senju Tsunade, the other Sannin is also to be recalled. And if that boy has inherited even a fraction of his father's skills, specifically the art of Hiraishin," he paused as even Nobunaga winced at the mention of that particular word, "Your invasion will be over before it begins," he concluded, while Nobunaga began to sweat realizing that maybe he had overreached himself in his zeal. But he was fully committed now; he could not back out after calling the Daimyo's competence to question. He would be summarily executed if he could not prove his words.

"Very well, much has been said today, but I will be magnanimous, because after all is said and done, you are still my nephew, and you are owed the chance to make good your boast," Yoshimoto spoke as a plan began to form in his mind, while Nobunaga stilled, "As of now, Kashamaru will begin negotiations with Hi no Kuni for the purchase of their crops, and meanwhile, I will grant you permission to mobilize our troops, but you have to prove that our forces possess the skill to handle Konoha on their own, instead of forcing us to be dependent on others," he finished as Nobunaga's eyebrows rose in curiosity.

"Nobunaga, if you want me to give you the permission to wage your war, you must prove that our ninja are capable on their own of handling Konoha," the daimyo spoke softly, as both Nobunaga and the Yondaime Kazekage stiffened, "To that extent," the daimyo paused as he looked at the two men, "I wish for Gaara, your supposed trump card to prove his mettle, by eliminating the son of the Yondaime Hokage in the preliminary stages of the exams, right in front of the presence of the shinobi of Konoha. If your 'living weapon' manages to do that, I will then call off the negotiations and give you the permission to wage your war, but only if Sabaku no Gaara manages to eliminate Namikaze Kurei, do you understand?" the daimyo spoke as the eyes of Nobunaga widened in shock, before they narrowed down.

He nodded stiffly and turned to leave.

As he turned to leave, the daimyo spoke softly, "And Nobunaga, if you dare to question my competence again, then nephew or no, you will pay for it with your life, do you understand?" the old daimyo spoke in a steely tone as the general made a formal bow of apology and left in silence, followed by the Kazekage, leaving a stony silence in the council chamber.

Imagawa Yoshimoto had bought himself some time, but at a fearsome cost. If Sabaku no Gaara did manage to kill the Namikaze, then Hi no Kuni would not hesitate to retaliate, which would derail Nobunaga's plans, but if the Namikaze killed the jinchuuriki of Suna, then Nobunaga would lose by default. No matter what, a world war would be avoided, because Yoshimoto knew that 'when two lions battled, hyenas lurked nearby to pounce on the two after they were weakened by their battle with each other' and he did not intend Kaze no Kuni to become a weakened lion, just to fulfill the ambitions of an arrogant young man.

* * *

**Authors Note:**

**P.S. 1.** Yes, in my story, Sasori is not a member of Akatsuki, and Gaara is not insane, although he will still retain some of his psychopathic tendencies. More political intrigue will be forthcoming in the next few chapters, before we move on to the war scenes.

**P.S. 2.** The names I have used are of actual Japanese warlords who existed in the fifteenth century of Japan's samurai warfare period, called Sengoku Jidai. In fact, Takeda Shingen, Imagawa Yoshimoto, Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were peers, and colleagues as well as rivals and enemies as well. Only thing was, they were not relatives. That is a fabrication on my part used for my stories, and I have just borrowed their names for my characters.

**P.S. 3.** Konoha will make an appearance in the next chapter, and Kurei won't make his appearance until Gaara makes his. The scene of Konohamaru bumping into Kankuro will be the one where these two make their entry in the story.

**P.S. 4.** Another important point, because this was a pairing of Itachi and Naruto, somebody asked me if this was a male/male pairing involving those two. Abso-freaking-lutely NOT!! I personally have nothing against that kind of thing, but it is not my cup of tea, and you will never find anything remotely resembling anything like that in my stories, once again, no offence meant.


	3. Interlude: Plot thickens

**In Konoha, during the same time period, when the Suna Royal Council was in session,**

* * *

The man stood in front of the entrance of Root headquarters. He was dressed in deceptively normal attire, whose sole intention was to make him blend in inside a village, where everybody tried to look their hardest for people like him who did exactly that.

Finally, he threw away his cigarette, and walked in.

The clerk on duty had his back turned but the door creaked. Without giving any sign of approaching the desk the visitor walked towards the stairs. The clerk was about to ask what he wanted, when the visitor glanced in his direction, nodded casually as to any other menial, and said firmly "I am expected by Danzo," at which the man's eyebrows rose to his hairline. After all, it was not every day that he met a man who was on first name basis with the commander.

From the alcove a Root ANBU emerged and they stood looking from one to the other. All he said was, "It's all right. He is expected."

* * *

The ANBU ushered him inside Danzo's office. It had been arranged like an office for a recruiting board. The escritoire served for the commander's desk and was littered with papers. Behind it was the single upright chair in the room. But two other uprights brought in from adjacent rooms flanked the central chair, and these were occupied by two men, who eyed the visitor curiously. There was no chair in front of the desk. The visitor cast an eye around, selected one of the two easy chairs and spun it round to face the desk.

After a while, Danzo slowly walked in and slid into his chair and glanced at the visitor. For a few seconds he stared at the man in front of him. What he saw did not displease him, and he was an expert in men. The visitor stood about six feet tall, apparently in his early thirties, and with a lean, athletic build. He looked fit, the face was sun-tanned with regular but not remarkable features, and the hands lay quietly along the arms of the chair. To Danzo's eye he looked like a man who retained control of himself. But the eyes bothered Danzo. He had seen the soft moist eyes of weaklings, the dull shuttered eyes of psychopaths and the watchful eyes of soldiers. The eyes of the visitor were open and stared back with frank candor. Except for the irises, which were of flecked grey so that they seemed smokey like the hoar mist on a winter's morning. It took Danzo a few seconds to realize that they had no expression at all. Whatever thoughts did go on behind the smoke-screen, nothing came through, and Danzo felt a worm of unease. Like all men created by systems and procedures, he did not like the unpredictable and therefore the uncontrollable.

"We know who you are," he began abruptly. "I had better introduce myself. I am Danzo ...."

"I know," said the visitor, "you are chief of operations of the ANBU Root division of Konoha. You are Fu, head of operations, and you are Torune, head of the Root training and recruitment division at the ninja academy of Konoha." He stared at each of the men in turn as he spoke, and reached for a cigarette. "You seem to know a lot already," interjected Torune as the three watched the visitor light up. The visitor leaned back and blew out the first stream of smoke.

Danzo remained silent as he reassessed the man in front of him.

"Gentlemen, let us be frank. I know what you are and you know what I am, and what _organization_ I represent. We both have unusual occupations. **You **... are restricted by the very fact that you exist legally in a shinobi village, and the fact that the actions of your organization are scrutinized strictly, while I and my _organization_ are free to move where we will without surveillance. We operate for money, you for idealism. But when it comes to practical details we are all professionals at our jobs. Therefore we do not need to fence. You have been making enquiries about me and my _organization_. It is impossible to make such enquiries without the news of them soon getting back to the people being asked about. Naturally we wished to know who was so interested in us. It could have been someone seeking revenge, or wishing to employ us. It was important for us to know. As soon as we discovered the identity of the people interested in us, a certain bit of investigation by our own agents was enough to tell us about you and your group. So the visit of your little errand boy two weeks ago was hardly a surprise. I know who you are, and whom you represent. What I would like to know is what you want."

There was silence for several minutes. Fu and Torune glanced for guidance at Danzo. The grizzled old warrior and the assassin stared at each other. Danzo knew enough about violent men to understand the man facing him was what he wanted. From then on Fu and Torune were part of the furniture.

"Since you have the necessary information, I will not bore you with the motivations behind our organization, which you have accurately waned as idealism. We believe Konoha is now ruled by a weakling who has polluted our country and prostituted its honor. We believe his regime can only fall and Konoha be restored to its former glory only if he first dies. Out of six attempts by our supporters to eliminate him, three were exposed in the early planning stages, one was betrayed the day before the attempt, and two took place but misfired."

"We are considering, but only at this stage considering, engaging the services of a professional to do the job. However we do not wish to waste our money. The first thing we would like to know is if it is possible," Danzo had played his cards shrewdly. The last sentence, to which he already knew the answer, brought a flicker of expression to the grey eyes.

"There is no man in the world that is completely inviolate against an assassin," said the visitor. "Sarutobi's exposure rate is very high. Of course it's possible to kill him. The point is that the chances of escape would not be too high. A fanatic prepared to die himself in the attempt is always the most certain method of eliminating a ruler who exposes himself to the public. I notice," he added with a touch of malice, "that despite your idealism you have not yet been able to produce such a man. It is clear that your attempts failed because no one was prepared to risk his own life to make absolutely certain."

"There are patriotic Konohans prepared even now..." began Torune hotly, but Danzo silenced him with a gesture. The visitor did not even glance at him.

"And as regards a professional?" prompted Danzo.

The visitor became silent for a moment. To Danzo, it appeared as if he was considering something, but he was brought out of his musings, when the man cleared his throat and began.

"A professional does not act out of fervor, and is therefore calmer and less likely to make elementary errors. Not being idealistic he is not likely to have second thoughts at the last minute about who else might get hurt in the execution of the assassination, and being a professional he will calculate the risks to the last contingency. So his chances of success on schedule are surer than anyone else, but he will not even enter into operation until he has devised a plan that will enable him not only to complete the mission, but to escape unharmed."

'Do you estimate that such a plan could be worked out to permit a professional to kill Sarutobi and escape?"

The visitor smoked quietly for a few minutes and stared out of the window. "In principle, yes," he replied at length. "In principle it is always possible with enough time and planning. But in this case it would be extremely difficult. More so than with most other targets."

"How so?"

"Because Sarutobi is forewarned, not about the specific attempt, but about the general intention. All national leaders have bodyguards and security men, but over a period of years without any serious attempt on the life of the big man, the checks become formal, the routines mechanical and the degree of watchfulness is lowered. The assassination attempt that finishes the target is wholly unexpected and therefore provokes panic. Under cover of this the assassin escapes. In this case there will be no lowering of the level of watchfulness, no mechanical routines, and if the assassin were to get to the target, there would be many who would not panic but would go for the assassin. It could be done, but it would be one of the hardest jobs in the world at this moment. You see, gentlemen, not only have your own efforts failed, but they have queered the pitch for everyone else."

"In the event that we decide to employ a professional assassin to do this job..." began Danzo.

"You have to employ a professional," cut in the visitor quietly.

"And why, pray? There are many men still who would be prepared to do the job out of purely patriotic motives."

"Yes," replied the visitor. "But you three men did not call me here for a chat in general terms about the theory of political assassination, nor because you have a sudden shortage of trigger-fingers. You called me here because you have belatedly come to the conclusion that your organization is so infiltrated by the agents of Konoha regular ANBU, that little you decide remains secret for long; and also because the face of every one of your operatives is imprinted on the memory of every military policeman in Konoha. Therefore you need an outsider. And you are right. If the job is to be done an outsider has to do it. The only questions that remain are who, and for how much. Now, gentlemen, I think you have had long enough to examine the merchandise, don't you?"

Danzo looked sideways at Torune and raised an eyebrow. Torune nodded. Fu followed suit. The visitor gazed out of the window without a shred of interest.

"Will you assassinate Sarutobi?" asked Danzo at last. The voice was quiet but the question filled the room. The visitor's glance came back to him and the eyes were blank again.

"You must understand that my _organization_ will first have to study your proposal," the visitor replied quietly. "Our _organization_ has gained the reputation it has, not because of the skill of our operatives, but because of the efficiency with which it conducts them. I will have to place your proposal in front of the _organization_, and if it is accepted then we will let you know," the man spoke quietly as Danzo nodded.

"How much?" Torune asked quietly.

"You must understand this is an once-in-a-lifetime job. The man who does it will never work again. The chances of remaining not only uncaught but undiscovered are very small. One must make enough for this one job both to be able to live well for the rest of one's days and to acquire protection against the revenge of the hunter nin forces of Konoha ..."

"When we have Konoha," said Fu, "there will be no shortage of. . . ."

"Cash," said the visitor. "Half in advance and half on completion."

"How much?" asked Danzo.

"One hundred million."

Danzo glanced at Torune, who grimaced.

"That's a lot of money,"

"Half of one hundred million?" shouted Fu, rising from his seat looking shocked.

"You mistake me. One hundred is the first half," the visitor interjected calmly.

"Are you crazy?" Torune nearly screamed as he stood up as well.

"No," said the visitor calmly, "but our _organization_ is the best and therefore the most expensive."

"We could certainly get cheaper estimates," sneered Torune. "Yes," said the visitor without emotion, "you would get men cheaper, and you would find they took your fifty per cent deposit and vanished, or made excuses later as to why it could not be done. When you employ the best you pay. Two hundred million is the price. Considering you expect to get Konoha itself, you esteem your country very cheap. And it is no ordinary target, after all, you want us to kill a Kage, and for such a job, one pays, no exceptions."

"Very well, then we wish for you to undertake this mission, will you present it to your _organization_ and let us know of your decision?" Danzo asked after a while and the man nodded in agreement.

"Very well, I take my leave then," the visitor spoke softly, _and suddenly_, his neck lurched and he fell down face first on the ground.

Before the three startled men could move to help him, a stunning change came over the man's body. In front of their eyes, the man's body began to morph and changed its appearance completely down to the color of hair and the clothing worn.

"What the hell?" Fu muttered as he went in to check on the man's body. As he turned it over, he received a huge shock to see that the face of the man had completely changed.

Torune knelt beside him and checked the pulse of the body, and within seconds, he let the limp hand fall down, "He is dead, has been for a long time," he muttered as he and Fu stood up.

"He was not even here directly," Fu muttered in wonder as he realized what had happened, "he animated a corpse and sent it in here!! Must be some form of astral projection, but even the Yamanaka clan is not capable of such a thing. He remotely controlled this corpse from somewhere, made it take his appearance and sent it here to talk with us. What an extraordinary technique!!" the man muttered in wonder.

"That's one hell of a technique, and if they are capable of using such techniques, then…," Torune muttered softly as Danzo interjected, "We have found the correct people. If anybody can get rid of Sarutobi, it is them. Huh, it seems the reports were true, this **_Akatsuki _**does seem to live up to its hype."

* * *

**In the town of Kitazan, near the borders of deserts of the Land of Wind, during the same time period,**

* * *

"Come on Hanataro, don't give me any of that shit, that fucking maniac is out there in the desert, and I am not going to rest until I get him," Takeshi swore as he looked at his companion, "I don't know what possessed God in heaven to make a person like _Gaara."_

"God didn't make Gaara, we did," a voice spoke out from the corner and everybody turned to see a Jonin from Suna enter the office of the police prefecture.

"Who the hell are you?"

"My name is _Baki,_ and I am here to get my student," the man spoke softly, while the veil covering half of his face fluttered idly.

"Your student?"

"I trained him since birth, I commanded him for three years during the Suna-Iwa war. I say that makes him mine."

"Fought in the war? For crying out loud, he is a thirteen year old kid," Hanataro spoke out in an incredulous tone.

"I wonder," Takeshi began slowly, "Why did Suna send a full blown Jonin to get one kid?"

"Maybe because he is the Kazekage's son," Baki replied cavalierly as the two men froze.

"Doesn't make a goddamn difference, I don't care if he is the son of Kami himself! That fucking psycho killed twenty innocent people! I ain't gonna rest until I haul his ass into the prison cell. If he thinks he can fuck around with the law, just because he is royalty, then he is mistaken," Takeshi, ever the policeman, spoke out curtly.

"I appreciate your zeal, but you are out of your league and your depth," Baki spoke out calmly, "Gaara is known as the strongest ninja of Sunagakure for a reason."

"Don't kid me, he is strong for a kid, but he ain't invincible," Takeshi snarled as he moved forward.

"I don't think you understand. I didn't come here to bail that kid out of trouble. I came here to save you people from him before he goes on a rampage. Frankly speaking, I am amazed that you and your posse are still alive. Strictly speaking, he slipped up, you are lucky to be breathing," Baki concluded as though he was reading a briefing report.

"Is that right?" Takeshi snorted as he dismissed Baki's claims.

"You don't want to seem to accept the fact that you are dealing with an expert in unconventional warfare," Baki spoke with a flourish, "with a boy who is an expert, in using ninja techniques, in using weapons, in using his bare hands. A boy who has been trained to ignore pain, to ignore weather, to live off the land, to eat things that would make a pig puke in revulsion. In the war with Iwa, his job was to dispose of the enemy personnel, to kill, period, to win by attrition, and Gaara, _was the best_. He was just nine years old, when the war concluded, and yet he was the one who had the highest kill-count in the war, there is a reason why he is the only Genin in the world to be entered into the Bingo Books," Baki finished as the atmosphere in the room became silent.

"That's great, Baki-san, you came out here to find why one of your _killing_ _machines _blew a gasket," Takeshi snarled sarcastically as he sheathed his sword.

"Let it go, I understand your rage, I have seen it happen many times, but trust me, all have ended in sorrow. No one who has gone against Gaara has lived to tell the tale. Defuse the situation, defuse him, and allow him to slip through, and this will end without bloodshed," Baki advised the police prefect who was boiling with rage.

"You know, Baki-san, we are a small town at the border of the country, but we are expected to follow the rules of the land, just like our heroes in the shinobi forces," the man snarled.

"In the shinobi forces, we teach our people to stay alive in the line of duty," Baki quipped back, losing some of his cool finally.

"No shit!! I never thought of that," Takeshi retorted snidely.

"Do you want a war you can't win?" Baki asked with temper rising in his own voice.

"Are you telling me that two hundred men against your boy is a no win situation for us?" Takeshi snarled. Baki snorted. Two hundred would not even make a decent appetizer for someone like Gaara.

He sighed; he now realized that this was going to end exactly like the other situations, where Gaara had run afoul of law authorities during his lone travels in the countryside.

"Takeshi-san," he spoke softly as he looked at the young policeman who was at the door, "remember this, not all heroes win at the end," he spoke sadly as the young man gave a curt bow and left the room.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**P.S. 1.** The reasons for Danzo being forced to use Akatsuki will be explained in the next chapter, as will Gaara's running afoul of the police prefecture at the border town.

**P.S. 2.** The next chapter will contain a detailed description of the geo political structure in Konoha after the planned Uchiha clan's massacre is aborted. It will detail how the village has progressed in the last six years, and will contain details of how the Uchiha have progressed as well as the reasons as to why Danzo is now forced to hire outsiders, despite controlling a fanatical ninja battalion of his own. Kurei will make an appearance as well, although it will be in flashbacks during the interactions of other characters.

**P.S. 3.** As said before, Kurei and Gaara will meet each other in an exceptionally violent introduction in the chapter after the next.


	4. Civil War in Konoha

**_Konohagakure no Sato,_**

* * *

"**The Hokage is dead! The Hokage is dead!**" the sound of the criers came aloud as they raced through the streets of Konoha. Itachi got out of bed sleepily and looked outside his windows. However, before he could become fully awake, Kakashi appeared in front of him, cold and shaking in anger.

"It cannot be! Tell me it is not true!" Itachi spoke out while Kakashi just lowered his head.

Itachi felt as though his screams of anguish could be heard throughout Konoha, even though not a single word escaped his mouth.

"Who did this?" he asked, and even to himself, his voice seemed calm.

"We don't know, they got him, and Asuma, and even … Konohamaru as well," the man replied as he tried to bring his temper under control.

Within an hour, the council of Konoha convened, and since Sarutobi had very clearly declared that Itachi was to be his successor, Itachi was appointed as the Interim Hokage.

Two hours later, Konoha declared martial law, and the borders of Hi no Kuni and Konohagakure were closed indefinitely.

* * *

Danzo was jubilant. He was exulting. _Good lord, how long he had waited for this to happen!_ Now all his visions for Konoha and the ninja world would come to fruition. It was just a matter of time, he consoled himself.

The Akatsuki had kept its word. A month after the initial meeting, he had received a missive from them, stating that they would accept the job, provided that Danzo made a down payment of half the entire price that had been stated. Danzo had taken a huge gamble, and had done so, and today, the organization had delivered.

Sarutobi, his son Asuma, and his grandson, young Konohamaru, all had been found brutally murdered within the sanctity of their residence, along with their entire guard, which had been found slain as well. Just like that, the Sarutobi clan, one of the pillars that had supported Konoha since its founding was now no more.

Danzo ordered Torune to immediately deposit the remaining balance of the contract to fulfill the Akatsuki's payment. Usually, he was not a man who kept to his bargains, but he realized that this was someone whom even he could not dare to offend.

Being able to kill the man called as 'The God of Shinobi', who was also known as the strongest Kage ever, within the sanctity of his residence, without even causing a slightest disturbance, spoke volumes about the capacity of that organization, and he had no desire to make enemies of them.

* * *

**_The Palace of Imagawa Yoshimoto, the daimyo of Kaze no Kuni,_**

* * *

Nobunaga was surprised when he received a summons from his uncle. After their altercation at the previous council, there had been no further communication between the two men.

Pensive, he made his way towards the chambers of his uncle. He was surprised to see Sasori and the Yondaime Kazekage standing together and talking in slow whispers, something which he had never thought possible, and was a cause for concern. _Had his friend switched sides again?_

Hideyoshi was also present, and he was standing in a corner looking troubled as well.

"Nobunaga, come, we were awaiting your presence," Yoshimoto spoke quietly as he looked at his nephew.

"Is something the matter, uncle?" the general asked quietly.

"I am afraid we have received some grave news, Nobunaga. Which might have an adverse impact on our plans to purchase the grain we need from Hi no Kuni to stave off our famine," Yoshimoto spoke softly. He really had no desire to discuss this with his nephew, but the young man, despite his faults, was an effective soldier and a brilliant general, and his views although skewed, and extremist, were at times useful.

"And what might that be?" the general asked carefully.

"The Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, Hiruzen Sarutobi, also known as 'The God of Shinobi', has been assassinated. Along with his entire family," Sasori replied in a thin voice as he gazed at the general.

It was not often that Nobunaga found himself flustered and thrown for a loop. However, this was such a time. With a stunned look on his face, he turned towards the Yondaime Kazekage who nodded grimly.

"That is … inconvenient," the general grumbled as he too sat down. A shrewd military tactician, he did not take long to understand what that meant, and his uncle, the daimyo, realized that he had realized it as well.

With the brutal assassination of the Hokage, the shinobi of Konoha would be at their highest alert, and attempting a military invasion at this time, would be tantamount to suicide. They could still invade, but without the element of surprise, their chance at victory would be marginal, by best.

* * *

The day after the assassination of the Sandaime Hokage, the ninja forces of Konoha, upon orders from the Interim Hokage, fell upon all the rogue ninja and criminal elements within the borders of Hi no Kuni and Konoha like a tidal wave.

They were swift. They were efficient. And they were beyond brutal. The ninja of Konoha mustered all their strength, for the dishonor to the eldest and greatest leader of their home, filled them all with wrath. And whispers reached to the other ninja villages, of the wrath of Konoha, and all of them pulled back temporarily, afraid to provoke the angry tiger any further; but, despite their frenzied search, the assassins of Sarutobi couldn't be found.

* * *

**_Konoha Council Chambers,_**

* * *

In their offices, Homura and Koharu threw themselves into a frenzy of work. The assassination of Sarutobi had been the final straw in what was a bubbling cauldron waiting to explode. Itachi had been splendid as the Interim Hokage, but the teenager knew as well, what the two elders did; that despite having Sarutobi's endorsement, he would not be appointed as the Godaime Hokage. There were too many forces at work against him.

What was not known to the public, and more importantly, to the other ninja nations, was the fact that for the last six years, a brutal and hidden civil war had been taking place within Konoha. And with the death of Sarutobi, the situation had now become more explosive than ever.

It had all stemmed from the day the ordered massacre of the Uchiha had been averted. Uchiha Itachi, had made the supreme sacrifice, and had assassinated his own father and uncle, the two men who had been plotting a rebellion against their village. With a heavy heart, the youngster had done what no son could have dared to do, and he had saved the village.

Immediately after the assassination of Uchiha Fugaku, a loud clamor had arisen within Konoha, when the news that the head of the most powerful clan within Konoha and the head of the village military police had been assassinated had circled through the village.

Within days, Itachi had taken hold of the clan, and after resigning from the ANBU, he and his equally famous cousin, Uchiha Shisui, had brought the situation under control. Although young, the two of them had gained complete control of the Uchiha clan, and like that, one of the most major crises to be had been averted.

True to his word, Sarutobi had slowly begun to deliver upon his promises. The seclusion of the Uchiha had been lifted, and the clan had been allowed to move back into the village. That conversely had the effect of enhancing Itachi's prestige within the clan, cementing his position as an effective clan head.

Soon, after that, Sarutobi had surprised the other clans, by giving the Uchiha clan all the rights that had been denied to them since the reign of the Nidaime Hokage, albeit slowly over the years, and in the process, making the other clans of the village slowly nervous and apprehensive.

But what had broken the camel's back, to speak figuratively, was his unilateral decision to place the sole surviving heir of the Yondaime Hokage under the protection of the Uchiha.

To the people of Konoha, three people above all came closest to deities, if they could be termed as such. They were - the Shodai Hokage, Hashirama Senju, the Sandaime, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and above all, the Yondaime, Namikaze Minato.

When the news that the Yondaime had a son had filtered out, the level of excitement that had been seen within Konoha had never been seen before. Even when the death of Uzumaki Naruto, the demon host had been declared, such fervor had not been seen.

What infuriated the other clans was the fact that they had not been consulted on this matter, and that they were not given a chance to raise the son of the Yondaime. All of them knew the value of the child, his heritage and his bloodline alone made him the most desirable political commodity within the village. All the clans knew that whichever clan was declared the guardian of the Yondaime's son would automatically be elevated to the top in the hierarchy of clans within the village, by public opinion, and in one swoop, the Sandaime had elevated the Uchiha to the top of the village, by granting them the custody of the boy.

The other clans were quick to see that the Uchiha was being favored more and more by the Sandaime, and that alarmed them. Since the rebellion of Madara, the Nidaime had imposed draconian restrictions on that clan, and even though they enjoyed enormous support from the public, their power within the ruling class of the village had been reduced to nothing.

And now, with Uchiha Itachi's stewardship, the clan had prospered like never before. Some had gone so far as to say that even under Uchiha Madara, the clan had never enjoyed such prosperity. And then, Sarutobi declared him as his successor, and by that time, the other clans had had enough, and then, Danzo had struck.

When the proposed plan to hide the identity of the Yondaime's son had been proposed in front of the daimyo, Danzo had been blindsided. He had never seen the plan coming, and with the daimyo's approval, he had been forced to concede defeat. And the child had been placed under Uchiha Itachi's care. Above all else, Danzo had desired the boy, even without his bloodline, the boy's political value alone made him priceless, and now all that had transferred to the Uchiha.

Danzo had immediately taken steps to ensure that Uchiha Itachi's powers would be curtailed. Above all else, if there was one thing Danzo excelled in, it was in identifying his enemies, and he realized at that meeting, that his principal enemy was not Sarutobi, _it was Itachi_.

* * *

The Yondaime's son was now beyond his reach, and although he accepted that grudgingly, he had taken steps to ensure that Itachi would never be the Godaime. He had patiently bided his time, and slowly, but surely, he built a loose coalition of allies, all of them powerful people, who were as alarmed as him, at the prospect of a more powerful Uchiha, and at the appropriate time, he struck.

He had naturally kept an eye on the behaviors and thought processes of the other clans, and had slowly bided his way towards making alliances. Just like him, some of the heads of the other major clans in Konoha too had been alarmed at the rate in which the Uchiha had progressed, and after realizing that their protests against the Uchiha would not be heard, now that the head of the Uchiha was the Hokage-designate, they had tried to gauge the reaction of the public in the village, but that too had misfired.

By then, the opinion of the populace of the village was firmly in favor towards the Uchiha, cemented because of the fact that they were the guardians of the Yondaime's son, a fact which the Uchiha had proven beyond doubt when Shisui Uchiha had personally saved the boy from an assault by Iwa shinobi, who had attempted to assassinate the child within weeks after his existence was revealed, and that had been just one amongst many such attempts, each of which had been foiled, succesfully, thus helping in cementing the reputation of that clan.

Soon, all the disenchanted clans, the Hyuuga, who were the chief rivals of the Uchiha, the Yamanaka, the Aburame, the Inuzuka, and the Kurama had all vacillated towards Danzo, realizing that their best chance at survival and retaining their power was through coalescence and thus, his coalition was born. The remaining clans, the Nara, the Akimichi, the Tsuchigumo, the Sarutobi and of course, the Uchiha, banded into another faction, and so, the village was finally divided in two.

Sarutobi had declared his successor, but Itachi needed the votes of all the Jonin in Konoha, to be accepted as the Hokage, and Danzo' s coalition had the numbers to ensure the vote's failure, if barely. And if that were not possible, then Itachi would need the approval of the daimyo, which he would not get. As the daimyo's advisor, Danzo had routinely made sublime suggestions to the daimyo by usually referring to Itachi's youth, and his inexperience, and more importantly, he kept on stressing what would have happened if the Uchiha rebellion had succeeded. Even if he could not sway the daimyo, he knew that he held enough clout within the daimyo's council of ministers, and he knew they would prevail in convincing the daimyo that Itachi was not suited to lead Konoha.

He had been focused on defeating Itachi politically, because he knew without a doubt, that in a fight, the youngster would probably destroy him and his Root battalion single handedly.

However, Danzo had made one mistake. He had assumed that Itachi was his enemy, and had focused all his energies completely on him, not realizing the fact that another person, who was far more dangerous than Itachi had been working to ensure his destruction.

Danzo had forgotten about Jiraiya.

That would prove to be a fatal oversight.

* * *

When Danzo had successfully managed to reinstall Root, he had not bargained on one thing. Sarutobi had given his assent for the reinstatement of Root, but with one proviso, that the existence of the division be made public, and that it be held accountable, just like all other organs of the village. Flush with success, Danzo had consented. That had been his second mistake.

Root had enjoyed its success because of the secrecy within which it had operated. However, now that its veil was lifted, Jiraiya did not waste any time and began his work. His spies soon infiltrated every level of Root, and he began what could be termed as a day by day monitoring of Danzo's activities, which were duly passed on to Sarutobi, and then to Itachi.

However, it also brought forth another blessing in disguise. In his typical vein, Danzo had proclaimed his division as the best in Konoha, which had not gone down so well with its other brother division, the ANBU. Using his political influence, Danzo began to curtail the activities of the ANBU more and more, and finally, he succeeded in having a decree passed from the daimyo, which effectively ordered the ANBU to relocate themselves to a base within a forest at the border of the village, which was also known as 'The Forest of Death'. The ANBU commander had protested, but Sarutobi was overwhelmed with opposition in the council and he had been forced to bow down.

Danzo had won. With the ANBU out of the village, his Root was the only elite division, which remained in public view, which again enhanced his prestige, as he had calculated. However, what he had not calculated was the fact that this act had earned him the undying hatred of the ANBU division.

The ANBU had never operated politically. They usually served as the military arm of the Hokage, and had protected the village since their inception, and this disgrace visited upon them by Danzo, sorely rankled in their mind.

Danzo had ignored a critical lesson in politics. If politics made strange bedfellows, then covert actions make even stranger ones. Diplomacy demands that politicians bury their differences when the need arises. However, shinobi do not. They nurse their grudges. **Forever**. And ANBU were the best shinobi of Konoha.

And Jiraiya had made excellent use of the resentment of the ANBU.

The ANBU, short for Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai, is the premier ninja battalion of Konoha. Its duties are both those of espionage outside Konoha and counter-espionage within, though each service may overlap the other's territory on occasion. Division 1 is pure intelligence, subdivided into departments known by the initial A (for Agency). These subdivisions are A.1. Intelligence Analysis; A.2 Tsuchi no Kuni; A.3 Kaze no Kuni; A.4 Mizu no Kuni; A.5 Kaminari no Kuni; A.6 Other Minor nations; A.7 Other minor Shinobi Villages.

Division 2 is concerned with counter-espionage. Divisions 3 and 4 comprise the Recruitment and Training Departments, 6 is Finance, and 7 is Administration.

Division 5 has a one-word title - Action. This department was the core of the ANBU Battalion. The members of this division were the nearest thing real life ever got to the fictional "tough guy'. They were trained to a peak of physical fitness, then taken to a special camp where a special training section team shut off from the rest of the village, taught them everything known about destruction. They became experts in fighting with small arms, unarmed combat, armed combat, and just about every form of combat that existed. They underwent courses in radio communication, demolition and sabotage, interrogation with and without the use of torture, kidnapping, arson and assassination.

Once Jiraiya learnt of the humiliation that had been visited upon the ANBU by Danzo, he made a covert visit to the commander's office. In a lengthy discussion, he provided the commander with just about every bit of information that he had on Danzo's illegal activities and the reasoning behind Danzo's motives, which he told the commander, according the evidence, pointed to a hostile takeover of the village. Why else did Danzo go to such lengths to have the ANBU, the only division that could stand up to Root, banished, he asked quietly.

At that, the commander of the ANBU, who conveniently happened to be none other than Hatake Kakashi, saw red. He then took the muzzle off his men, and told them that the gloves were off, and the ANBU, who were thirsting for revenge, broke upon Root. Some of them enlisted in Root and infiltrated into its highest councils. From here they were content to provide information on which others could act, and many Root emissaries on missions into territories outside Konoha's jurisdiction or other areas where they were vulnerable were picked up on information provided by the moles of ANBU inside the division. On other occasions, the more problematic and talented members of Root were ruthlessly killed outside the country. Many relatives of Root ninja who simply disappeared believed ever after that the men had been liquidated by the ANBU.

Of course, it did not take long for Danzo to realize what was happening. He protested ferociously, and raised a huge clamor within the council, and all but accused the ANBU of treason. Kakashi calmly asked Danzo to provide proper evidence or to shut up. And since Danzo could not provide any evidence that it was the ANBU, who were sabotaging Root, his claims were quashed. Kakashi further declared that if Danzo could not even protect the members of his own division, then Root was obviously a failure, he countered.

_A division, which could not protect its own members, did not deserve to exist,_ he so declared in the full council, and at that, Danzo went nearly apoplectic with rage, but he contained himself. Thereafter, the ANBU found that Root members had begun to react with extreme violence when they encountered them, and in this manner, the undercover war went on, and the complete story of who died under torture at whose hands in which cellar will never be told.

On the other hand, Jiraiya also began to provide Itachi and his military police with intelligence upon the illegal operations through which Danzo financed his division, and the Uchiha Military Police swarmed upon them like locusts. Thus, Danzo found himself in a quandary. Someone, most definitely ANBU, was terminating his stable of loyal ninjas, and the village police, under Itachi's orders no doubt, began to raid his sources of finance, and he could not even complain against that, since they were illegal fronts, and therefore, he was forced to watch as everything that he had built in his lifetime began to crumble.

Therefore, it was no wonder that he cultivated an extreme hatred for Itachi and Kakashi, and it was only compounded four years later, when Uchiha Mikoto, the widow of the late Uchiha Fugaku decided to remarry, by choosing to marry the teammate of her late brother, Uchiha Obito.

Curiously, the Uchiha clan did not complain much, since Kakashi was partly considered as an Uchiha, and even Itachi did not begrudge his mother a tiny bit of happiness, after four years of suffering. Besides, Kakashi had proven to be more of a father to Sasuke than Fugaku had ever been, and the younger brother of the Uchiha clan head was finally glad to have someone notice him, and accept him.

All in all, Danzo finally concluded that to stop the rampaging Uchiha and ANBU, their backbone would have to be broken, and that meant that Sarutobi had to go. As long as Sarutobi was alive and was Hokage, the Uchiha and the ANBU were untouchable, which in reality meant that Itachi and his new stepfather were untouchable; but if Sarutobi was gone, then things would change, he calculated. To that extent, he had begun a massive disinformation campaign to discredit Uchiha Itachi politically, so that even with Sarutobi's nomination, the youngster would not gain the seat of Hokage.

And now, he had struck. By removing Sarutobi, Danzo had steered himself into a position from where he seemed unassailable. But, in his euphoria, he had forgotten one thing.

Jiraiya was now returning to Konoha, and he would not be pleased.

* * *

The meeting of the council of Konoha after the assassination of the Sandaime Hokage and his family was the stormiest one in the history of the village. Presiding over the council, was the Interim Hokage, Uchiha Itachi.

"This is an outrage," snapped Danzo, "Yet another scandal which diminishes the great tree of Konoha in the eyes of the world. It is shameful, that even five days after the event, we have still not been able to capture the criminals responsible," he implied that it had happened only due to the weakness and inexperience of Itachi.

"It would not have happened at all, if Sarutobi-dono and his family had been guarded by my men, instead of that bunch of incompetent idiots, whom you have the audacity to term as a division," retorted Kakashi, while Danzo went beet red at the insult against Root.

"Enough," Itachi countered with a quiet hiss, and everybody fell silent.

"There are far more pressing matters at hand," Itachi continued, at which others looked at him sharply.

"In view of the recent events," Itachi continued, "I have decided to cancel the Chunin exams that are going to be held in Konoha next month," the Interim Hokage declared, while the chamber exploded in protests.

"So, after this humiliating episode, you now wish to further debase us, by humbling us in front of the world, declaring that we are not capable of holding even something as meager as a chunin exam?" Danzo shot back acidly.

"To show further weakness in front of the world is not acceptable," Hiashi Hyuuga retorted coldly, as he too glared icily at the young Kage.

"Jeez, wake up and smell the shit that you are trying to sell, Hyuuga," Shikaku Nara snorted, while Hiashi nearly burst a vein in anger at the casual way in which he was addressed, however, Shikaku ignored all that and continued, "The Hokage has just been assassinated, our forces and our government are in disarray, we don't know how much damage this has done to us yet, and still, you want us to invite within our village, hundreds of enemy ninja, who live for moments like these, to exploit our weakness and further threaten us? I will take loss of pride and prestige over loss of life any day. Who gives a damn about what others think about us? I care about our village and its people more than what other villages think about our village and its people," the man declared while everybody became silent.

"Spoken like a true coward, Nara," Tsume Inuzuka shot back, at which Shikaku Nara narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the woman, "But unlike you, not all of us are cowards; if we become afraid of every disaster that befalls us, then we do not deserve be to Shinobi in the first place. With all due respect, I don't think you have the balls for this job," she snorted, while the man narrowed his eyes, and a tense silence descended in the chambers.

"Maybe so," Shikaku replied softly, "but the difference is, unlike you, the advantage I have is that I don't have to think with them all the time," the man concluded, while the Inuzuka matriarch flushed and rose with rage clouding her eyes.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" a huge spike of killer intent went up, and all of them turned to see Itachi, who had stood up, and his eyes were blazing red with the Sharingan.

"Your protests are noted," he continued as he looked at Danzo and his faction, "but, unfortunately, it is me who is the Hokage, as of now, and my decision stands. The chunin exams stand cancelled," Itachi declared, and Danzo bowed down theatrically. It was time.

"Very well, if that is the case, Lord Uchiha," Danzo began with a deep sigh, "then I must do what I must, I shall formally be placing a petition with the daimyo to have you replaced, and to have a new Hokage be declared, because of your incompetence and inexperience, so that you may no longer bring further shame upon Konoha," Danzo proclaimed, and suddenly, _Itachi gave a thin smile_, much to the shock of everybody else.

"You have no need to do that," Itachi replied softly, as he sat down, while the eyes of everybody else narrowed.

"What do you mean?" Danzo asked quietly.

"_I know that I am too young and inexperienced to be the Hokage, which is the reason why I have already petitioned the daimyo to replace me with another Person, with someone who is far more suitable to be the Hokage than I can ever be_, _and it was on the very day the Sandaime was assasinated_, _in fact_," Itachi replied glibly, while the members of the council began to hyperventilate at this bit of information.

"And why were we not informed?" Koharu asked in a careful voice as she too tried to assimilate this new turn of events.

"Simple, as the Interim Hokage, I have the right to nominate who I believe is suitable to lead the village, and I nominated the person, whom I believed to be the one who was most capable for this job. In fact, he is more than capable, and even the daimyo agrees with my assumptions, and has accepted my nomination and has used his right to install a new Hokage. Which is why, by the evening, the royal edict concerning the new hokage will be out, and from tomorrow, _he will take charge of the village_," Itachi continued in the same tone.

Shikaku watched with his jaws wide open as Itachi stole the ground from underneath Danzo and his coterie's feet.

"And you did not see it fit to consult us?" Tsume Inuzuka screeched as she stood up snarling. Danzo had sunk back into his chair, astonished and stunned.

He had prepared thoroughly to oppose Itachi and his reign as Hokage, but he had never expected in his wildest dreams that Itachi himself would decline the position. As a man who lusted after power, to him, it was inconceivable that somebody would decline ultimate power.

"Please note this, Inuzuka-sama, as the Hokage, I am the ruler of this village, and a ruler has the option of choosing to accept the advice of his councilors, and the option of not choosing to accept the advice of his councilors. I chose not to, and decided on my own and filed my nomination, and the Daimyo in his wisdom, saw fit to accept my nomination, which is why, effective with this evening, I will be stepping down, while the new hokage arrives with Jiraiya-sama to take over the reins of the village," Itachi declared quietly.

* * *

Kakashi smirked as he gazed at the flushed face of Danzo and his equally flustered factionists. All these years, Danzo and his faction had prepared to oppose Itachi, whom Sarutobi had nominated, but they had never expected that Itachi himself would decline the position and offer it to somebody else. And gambling upon that very fact, Itachi had simply baited Danzo and his faction, and had kept their attention focused solely on him, while the daimyo had in the meantime been approached by Jiraiya and Kakashi, who had used that time to convince the daimyo to accept Itachi's nomination. The fact that Sarutobi had given his assent to that before his assassination had helped as well. In his zeal to discredit Itachi, Danzo had ignored monitoring the situation at the Daimyo's court, and the fact that Kakashi had used his ANBU to assassinate most of Danzo's sources within the daimyo's court had helped as well.

_Check _and _Mate,_ Kakashi smirked ferally. _Your luck has finally run out Danzo. You chose the wrong person to mess with, and once the new hokage is here, your days are numbered_, Kakashi swore as he gazed at the old man who had killed the one man he considered as a grandfather.

_Genius, that word does not even do true justice to Itachi_, Kakashi reminded himself once again, as he looked with pride at his stepson.

"And whom have you nominated as the new hokage of Konoha, may I ask?" Danzo asked as he took deep breaths to steady himself.

"Correction, you need to rephrase it. _He is already the new hokage, and he is on his way here_," Itachi replied with a thin smirk, while Danzo nearly snarled at the insolence of the young whelp.

"Very well, may I ask who the new Hokage of Konoha is?" Danzo asked with a steely tone as he gazed at Itachi.

* * *

"_That … would be me_," a new voice came out at the end of the chambers and everybody turned around to see the newcomer.

* * *

There he was, standing right next to a smug looking Jiraiya, and the moment he saw him, even Danzo blanched in fear; as he saw his greatest enemy walk inside the chamber, now as his ruler.

If there was a person whom Danzo had loathed more than Sarutobi, it was he. This was the man, who had single handedly ruined his life and career. It was because of this man, that he was now a cripple, and it now appeared that he had finally appeared to complete his job.

**"YOU!!"** Danzo snarled, with spit flying out of his mouth, as he stared at the man with every bit of hatred he could muster in his eye.

"Long time no see, Danzo," the new hokage spoke as he moved in, while all the council members stood up to show their respect, for this was a man, whom even they did not dare to cross. Too late, the members of Danzo's faction realized that they had been suckered. Against this man, the daimyo would never accept Danzo as a candidate for the position for the Hokage. It would appear that they had lost this battle, after all.

* * *

With a thin smile upon his face, _Hatake Sakumo_, the legendary ninja known all over the world as '_The White Fang of Konoha'_, moved in and sat upon his chair, the chair of the Godaime Hokage, while Uchiha Itachi stood up and let him occupy it as he vacated it.


	5. Deeds of Desperation

**_Chapter 5: Deeds of Desperation_**

* * *

**_The Chambers of Imagawa Yoshimoto, the Daimyo of Kaze no Kuni,_**

* * *

Imagawa Yoshimoto leaned forward, laying the missive that had been delivered to him by the ambassador of Hi no Kuni, containing Takeda Shingen's reply to his proposal, which had been delivered to his chief minister, Kashamaru.

"Of all the people, it had to be him, _Hatake 'The Butcher' Sakumo, _the one man who managed to single handedly bring about our ruin in the second war, and he … is now the chief advisor to Shingen. It seems that fate is in no mood to show her kindness to us," the old man growled as he looked at Sasori and Hideyoshi, while Kashamaru stood silent.

"How did we manage to forget about him, I mean … it was as if we woke up one fine morning and decided to forget that he existed at all! How did we make such a miscalculation?" Hideyoshi asked softly.

However, Sasori's silence sobered the two men. The Hatake family and Sasori's family had a legendary feud that had festered between them for more than thirty years, and it was quite well known in shinobi circles. In fact, it had been Sasori's father who had engineered the sabotage of an operation that had been entrusted to Sakumo, which had been considered as the most vital mission that could swing the second war towards Konoha's absolute victory.

Through Judicious use of tactics and terrain, Sasori's father had engineered a trap, which had forced Sakumo to choose between completing his mission and saving his comrades. Sakumo had chosen the latter, for which he had been forced to abandon his mission, which in return, had led to a thumping victory for the forces of Suna in the Battle of Kikyo Pass. Konoha had lost more than eight hundred shinobi in that battle.

Sakumo had been castigated in his village for abandoning the mission, and for the frightening loss that had occurred afterwards. Even the people whose lives he saved turned upon him, bitter and angry at the turn of events.

Sakumo, in the true fashion of a ninja, however, remained silent, and vanished afterwards. For an entire week, he was not heard or seen by anyone inside Konoha. After a week, he returned to the village, along with a prisoner.

_The Nidaime Kazekage. _

Single-handedly, he had snuck into Sunagakure, bested the Kazekage's guards, captured the man, and had brought him back. In front of the villagers, which included the ones who had blamed him, and his teammates who had blamed him for saving them to abandon the village, he threw down the bound and gagged Kazekage, and after that, he took off his Hitai-ate and threw it at the face of the village council members and walked away, never to be seen again. That was a feat that had remained unparalleled in shinobi history as an achievement that could not be surpassed by anyone, only until the arrival of Namikaze Minato in the third war.

Single handedly, Hatake Sakumo had won the second war for Konoha. And now, he was back after living in solitude for more than twenty-five years to take up the mantle of leadership in Konoha.

What was not so widely known however was the fact that during that solo mission, Sakumo had annihilated Sasori's family, especially his parents, and had brought their clan to near extinction. Simply put, Sakumo's motive for attempting that suicidal stunt had not been any desire to regain his honor, as believed by many of Konoha's ninja. It was plain vengeance, pure and simple. Sasori's father had killed Sakumo's wife during that ill-fated mission, and 'The White Fang of Konoha' … had gone to Suna to extract his pound of flesh in return.

Only his grandmother Chiyo's intervention had saved his life that night, but that act had cost his grandmother her right arm, and her career as a shinobi. In one night, Hatake Sakumo had destroyed his family, by killing his parents, and by capturing his grandfather, who again, by sheer coincidence happened to be none other than the Nidaime Kazekage.

After capturing the man, Sakumo had fled the enemy village with his prize catch, leaving behind him a crippled old woman and an orphaned child. It was Sasori's desire to avenge this act, which had spurned him to progress in his chosen field so far that he himself was now considered a legend in his own right, but still, compared to Sakumo, his name still paled in recognition to his.

All these thoughts rolled through Yoshimoto's head, and the man chastised himself for being so callous. He truly did care for Sasori, in a manner, he considered the young man as a surrogate son, and he knew how hard this would be for the red-haired man.

"So, it is as you suspected," Hideyoshi spoke again, trying to dissipate the gloomy atmosphere in the chamber.

"Blackmail," said Kashamaru angrily. "Bloody Blackmail."

"Of course," said Yoshimoto simply. "What were you expecting? Sympathy?"

"That damned Danzo is behind this," said Kashamaru, "but this cannot be Shingen's final answer. Their own intelligence and our proposal to buy fifty – five million tons of grain must have told them what kind of position we are in."

"Will they talk eventually? Will they negotiate after all?" asked Hideyoshi.

"Oh, yes, they'll talk eventually," said Kashamaru, "but they will delay as long as they can, spin things out, wait until the famine begins to bite, and then, trade against humiliating concessions."

"None too humiliating, I hope," Sasori spoke after a while, his voice a bare murmur, "We hold the high ground in the court, but it is tenacious at best, and I, for one, do not want to fight a war with Konoha, especially with _that man_ at its helm. At least Sarutobi was predictable, this man is like a wildfire, he will not show mercy, not to his enemies, or to his own, if they fail him."

**_

* * *

_**

**_Konohagakure no Sato, the day after the eventful meeting of the Village council,_**

* * *

The roar of exultation that had been let out by the villagers who had gathered for the coronation of the new Hokage had nearly torn the sky apart.

At first, when Itachi had announced that he would be stepping down as Hokage, most of the villagers were perplexed and surprised. After all, the young Uchiha clan head was considered to be the best of the new generation, it was even whispered that one day he might equal the honored Yondaime Hokage! So, why did he decide to quit?

As the suspicion mounted amongst the villagers, Itachi delivered his coup-de-grace and presented Sakumo who stepped forward and symbolically took the hat of the Hokage from the youngster. At first, there was a stunned silence as the villagers tried to come to terms with the magnitude of the announcement. Once the shock had abated however, the tide swelled over. The election of Hatake Sakumo to succeed Sarutobi Hiruzen was carried by acclamation. Supporters of alternative candidates would have been shouted down had they tried to speak. They did not even bother.

Itachi had scored a magnificent publicity coup by voluntarily declining the honored position, to have it given over to one of Konoha's forgotten heroes, well, not so forgotten anymore; but that act had cemented his place in the hearts of the villagers. A youngster who had given up his chance for eternal glory and power, only to hand it over selflessly to another man, and in the process, he had somehow managed to convince the legendary white fang himself to become the Hokage, now that was an achievement to be worthy of, the villagers told themselves.

And like that, Danzo's last hope for becoming Hokage was finally dashed.

He was now poorer by a hundred million, and had achieved nothing for it, save perhaps Sarutobi's death, that Sarutobi who was nearly at the end of his usefulness! Some consolation that was! And in return, the one man he feared the most had returned as his ruler! It was just not fair, the man screamed out to the heavens.

* * *

The next morning, as he woke up, Danzo was rudely interrupted by Torune who rushed in, with his face pale and his eyes hunched.

"You seem perturbed," Danzo remarked quietly.

"Things are getting out of control, Danzo-sama, I am badly frightened," said the young Aburame, which was rather uncharcteristic for him, and something which made Danzo become alert instantly. Anything that could faze Torune that badly, was a grave matter indeed.

"Don't be. There have been reverses, but nothing I cannot take care of. Tell me, what is wrong?"

Torune was shaking like a leaf. The flame of the candle on the desk illuminated the young man's face, which was akin to a corpse's.

"The clan has decided to distance itself from your faction. Shibi-dono was visited by Jiraiya-sama this morning. I do not know what they discussed, but Shibi-dono looked extremely perturbed. After the departure of Jiraiya-sama, he issued a proclamation, stating that any member from our clan who remains with Root by the end of the day will be excommunicated from the clan!" the youngster spoke out, while Danzo's eyes narrowed.

"Apparently, the Yamanaka's were visited by Itachi-san, and the Inuzuka by Kakashi-san, while the Hyuuga were, again, visited by none other than the new Hokage, there is no chance that all of this occurring at the same time can be a coincidence," the youngster continued.

"WHAT?"

"He wouldn't dare. Sakumo cannot dare do this so early after returning to the village. He knows the consequences for opposing me so directly. More than half the village and the royal council support me," he whispered quietly.

"It has gone beyond that, Danzo-sama. Apparently, the new hokage is irate beyond reason at what happened to the Sandaime Hokage and his family. It seems to have provoked him and his supporters."

"To what?"

"Next week. For October 10th, the festival of the defeat of the Kyuubi. They think that everyone will have celebrated as usual to the point of helplessness, where they will be incapable of concerted action."

"What action? What everyone? Explain yourself!"

"Your everyone. Everyone you command. Root. They are mustering their entire force. The entire Jonin Regiments and the ANBU Battalions, and even the Chunin brigades."

"To what end?"

"To arrest you. On charges of treason against the state, and with the murder of the Sandaime Hokage and his family. To crush the Root, to arrest or destroy them in their barracks."

"They can't. They have no evidence."

"Apparently, a very high official from Root has prepared to testify against us. That is the reason for this move. They see this as a golden opportunity to get rid of us, forever."

Danzo stood as if he had been hit by an electrical charge. Part of his brain told him that those cowardly freaks could never muster the nerve to do something so outrageous. On the other hand, it was plausible. If there was indeed a senior Root member willing to testify … wait a minute, apart from him, only two other members from Root knew that he was involved in the assassination of Sarutobi. Torune was in front of him, and that left …

"Where is Fu?" he asked gutturally as he gazed at his lieutenant.

"I… he has not arrived yet?" Torune asked in confusion as he looked at Danzo. At that moment, Danzo concluded that there was a possibility of this information being correct. According to Torune, a senior member of Root was prepared to testify, and the only ones apart from him, who knew of the Sarutobi assassination, were Torune and … Fu.

"You think it is … him? But Fu, he …," Torune began, when he was silenced by a glare from Danzo.

If Fu was indeed the traitor, and provided the evidence required, then the daimyo would have him disposed off like a rag, he realized instantly. As a ninja, Danzo was well aware what men were prepared to do when they were driven by panic. His safeguards of placing paralytic seals on his men, to prevent them from being interrogated would not serve him good, especially when the interrogators would no doubt be assisted by the premier seal master of the world, in the form of Jiraiya.

"Go back to your clan compound, Torune. You are too far involved in this matter to seek redemption under the current regime," Danzo said at length. "For you, the Root has to win. I want to know everything that happens, all that you hear, every development, every meeting, every conference, until the day of the festival."

Nodding in gratitude, the young man returned to his home, while Danzo stood contemplatively, watching the moon out from his window.

However, had Danzo been careful enough to watch, he could have still averted the coming disaster.

_Torune had turned west, but, the Aburame Compound was in the northeastern sector of the village._

* * *

**_After a few hours,_**

* * *

Danzo sat behind his desk, ashen pale in the dim light. As he recalled the report of his young subordinate, he began to shrink by the minute, as he considered the ramifications of the news. His former icy control seeped away, the unhesitating decisiveness appeared to bleed out of him. He realized it, and hated it, for allowing this weakness to cripple him.

Things were falling apart, the days of words were over. His own hour had come. Inside his own world, Danzo sat maundering over the catastrophe that had overtaken him in such a short time. He literally could not understand the transformation, though he could just perceive how, systematically, it had come about.

At the onset, after the assassination of Sarutobi, it had seemed that nothing on earth could prevent him from ascending the seat of Hokage. His political opponents had been in disarray, as the death of their staunchest supporter demoralized them. Those seeking preferment and favor after his certain victory had flocked to fawn upon him. By the end of the week, his triumph had seemed a certainty.

Then, like a bolt out of blue, that Uchiha brat had derailed him so completely that he had shattered his war-machine in a single swoop. _How the hell did he convince Sakumo to take up the position? In addition, even more importantly, how could he have allowed himself to forget about his archenemy so cavalierly? Had he been so focused on defeating Itachi that he had turned blind to everything else… _

That was it! That damn brat! He had deliberately baited him! He had made him keep his attention focused solely upon him, while others, his stepfather and that annoying pervert of a student of Hiruzen's no doubt, had used that time to persuade the daimyo to appoint the thrice damned Sakumo to that position!

That a single teenager, could do him such serious damage, it was inconceivable and yet … he had been outmaneuvered in the very game in which he believed himself to be a master of.

And now, they were closing in, like hawks, to finish him off. Was everything he had done for this? That his glorious vision for Konoha will never manifest, all because of one damned teenager?

No, he wouldn't give up. The gloves were now off, as the saying went.

He would strike, and he would do what he had sworn never to do.

He would attack Konoha … to protect Konoha … to take it over and to remold it into the true utopia that he had envisioned.

He would take over and then address the villagers. He would claim he acted to prevent an anti-people conspiracy and provide the required proof. He still had with him the documents that the Daimyo had signed over six years ago, authorizing the extermination of the Uchiha clan for their intended rebellion.

By revealing that information, he could destroy the credibility of the Uchiha in one swoop. And to add salt to the injury, he would even claim that they had tried to kill the Yondaime's legacy … no, he would show them that the Uchiha had in fact killed the child. It was regrettable, but if the child were to perish, then his claims could be substantiated as actual, instead of rumormongering. And the villagers would never forgive the ones whom they believed to be the murderers of the only son of their beloved Yondaime.

The opposing clan heads could be arrested, and their successors could be replaced by ones who were loyal to him. And with his resources, he could buy all the forces he needed. After all, the ninja world was a corrupt world, where everything was for sale. And of course, Takeda Shingen would have to be replaced by someone more tractable as well. Another notch in the list of crimes that he would add, against the Uchiha.

Now, was his time.

Danzo was about to begin his private war to fulfill what he believed to be his destiny.

* * *

**Authors Notes**

* * *

1. Recently, I have been badgered by requests from others, requesting permission to adopt some of my stories, which I have delayed in updating. Specifically, like Sarutobi Naruto, Isane and others. **Please know this, It is not happening. Never, ever, ever**. If anybody is going to be completing my stories it is going to be me. I know that it has been like six months or so, since I updated them, but there are stories on this site which have been updated after even a couple of years!

2. Yes, I may have delayed, but that doesn't mean that I will not update them at all. It is not like updates can be produced like cars in a factory, ok? It takes a hell of an effort to think up a proper story. Reading stories is easy, but writing them, that is a completely different kettle of fish.

3. Besides, I have my personal life to look after as well. With the new hectic schedule that my new job has, it is a miracle that I am managing to write at all. So, please don't take me for granted, all right?

4. And finally, some others have requested me to send original draft copies of stories that I took down earlier. I apologise, but that is not happening. They are gone, I have deleted them a long time ago. So, please don't pester me for those, again.

5. And okay, the next story that I update will be 'Repentance'. And it might take a week or so.

6. See ya!


	6. Coup d’état

"He bit. He bit hard," Jiraiya said to Sakumo. "I just hope you know what you are doing."

"No danger involved. Just a civil war," Sakumo spread his hands. "This ought to be real civilized."

_Yeah right, _Jiraiya scoffed. Nevertheless, even he had to admit that this had been a long time in the making, and there was no way to avoid it. They could only pray that the casualties would be less than what they expected them to be.

"Though I have to admit, Jiraiya, your impersonation of that Aburame boy was picture-perfect," Sakumo grinned.

"Those whom the gods would destroy, they first make proud," the toad sage replied.

"Why do you think pride is one of the seven deadly sins?" the Godaime Hokage asked as he arched his eyebrows.

Jiraiya just smiled ferally in return.

* * *

If Danzo had been required to organize an armed force to capture the village, and to do starting from scratch in four days, he never would have been able to do it. However, he was not starting from scratch. In preparing for this task, he had already decided which would be his natural allies, and which his obvious enemies. Since it was obvious that his coalition was now compromised, he had turned back to the true and tested method of outsourcing his work.

On his desk lay the summoning contract that he had purchased from the Akatsuki for an outrageous cost. It was a one-time usage contract, for summoning a pack of summoning creatures far more ferocious than any summons in the world, and he had been told explicitly, that the creatures would obey him until his mission succeeded, after which they would return back to their true master.

Apart from this summon, he had his own stable of around 1,500 ninja, who were now the sole force present in Konoha, apart from the regular Jonin contingent. Inside the village, he needed to take five targets, one primary, and four secondary. His main target of course, was the Hokage tower. The ultimate prize. The fortified tower had long been symbolic of supreme power in the village and the visible possession of that power would cement his claim. Two of his battalions would divert to the capital and take care of the daimyo, while another two, would be exclusively used for containing the village. In addition, three of them, would be set aside to deal with the Uchiha Military Police specifically. However, he knew without a doubt, that the greatest threat to him was from the ANBU. Kakashi would never let his precious father come to harm, and before going head to head with Sakumo, he needed to neutralize Kakashi, and that is where the summoning contract would come in handy.

* * *

_**Near the borders of Konoha,**_

* * *

The caravan was slowly making its way towards Konoha. The members of the caravan had no idea what they were about to be embroiled in.

* * *

_**The day of the Attack,**_

* * *

Armed men clad in black moved swiftly throughout the night, racing towards footholds in the village. At least fifty of them entered the village hospital and moved straight towards the reception areas. Within seconds, the frightened lobby staff were lined up against the wall, bound, and gagged.

Another group made its way towards the power station of the village. The three chunin on guard duty were dispatched effortlessly, while one of the members of the group began to set up explosive charges all over the place in a systematic manner. After ten minutes, he rapidly made some hand seals, and instantly a series of muffled explosions occurred in succession. A second later, the entire village of Konoha was plunged into darkness.

* * *

"So, it begins," muttered Hatake Sakumo as he made his way out of the tower complex, followed by nearly almost every Jonin in the village.

* * *

"So, it begins," muttered Danzo, as he too, watched his ninja swarm out into the village.

* * *

The battle for Konoha had begun.

* * *

If any _coup d'état _was taking place, then the enemies, would have to take out the barracks of the military police, and the Jonin Contingent first, and the ninja of Konoha forewarned about such an attempt just hours ago, by the Godaime Hokage, were alert. Moreover, more importantly, they were ready for an attack.

"What about the daimyo?" Itachi asked Sakumo carefully, while the man smirked. "Already taken care of, the Shugonin Junishi have been warned, and one of our old friends is there as well. She is more than capable of taking care of any threat," Sakumo grunted, as he looked at his step-grandson.

"_She_?" Itachi asked in confusion, while a truly feral smirk came upon Sakumo's face.

* * *

At the daimyo's palace, the attacking Root ninja watched petrified, as Tsunade of the Sannin effortlessly killed their leader by blasting him through a wall, with a mere flick of her finger.

* * *

"We don't have enough people here to defend the village, if he decides to use civilians as hostages," Itachi pointed out to Sakumo, who nodded.

"No, he will not go after civilians, he cannot afford to, for his takeover to succeed, he needs the support of the civilians more than anything. In fact, it is us; we are the ones who should be concerned. Above all else, he needs to wipe out you and me, and your clan, of course," Sakumo replied curtly, while Itachi contemplated the facts.

"True enough, but I don't think there is anybody in Root with enough skill to get past Shisui, not to mention _Kurei,_" Itachi retorted, while Sakumo smiled.

* * *

"It's gotta happen soon. Shit, they've got their forces as ready as they can ever be," Ibiki Morino observed, as he watched the Root ninja take their positions, from the camouflaged vantage point where he and his men were hidden, waiting for the right time to ambush the Root nin, who had taken over the village hospital.

"I know what you are saying, Ibiki, but we can't move, until they move first, those are our explicit orders," Anko muttered at his side, as she held up a senbon needle in her hand.

"They're moving," a jonin next to them muttered, as everybody in the vantage point got ready.

Konoha was now officially at civil war.

* * *

However, not all groups were as prepared as Ibiki's group. There was a reason why Root ninja were called elite. For all their misplaced ideologies and alliances, their capabilities were never to be doubted. Two other battalions of Root ninja were intercepted before they reached their targets. However, twenty additional Root groups were moving ahead, and not all sites were as well prepared as the Hokage tower or the Village hospital. Soon, the battle for Konoha began with platoon-sized skirmishes all over the village.

* * *

A team of Root ninja ran forward under covering fire, from their counterparts, who used long-range Ninjutsu techniques to cover the team's flanks, even as the members of the Root team fell under murderous attacks, by the defending guards of the gate, who were soon cut down. As soon as they reached the main gate of the village, they raced ahead, and placed explosive charges on the hinges of the main gate of the village, and detonated them instantly, making sure that the heavy iron gates of the village remained closed. At murderous cost, they had achieved their objective. Konoha, was now isolated, from the inside and from the outside.

* * *

Forewarned is not always forearmed, and the ninja of Konoha were beginning to realize that slowly. Despite being forewarned, Danzo had them outnumbered eight to one, and even though the quality of the shinobi defending the village was higher, they were slowly being overwhelmed. Quality always surpassed quantity, but quantity had a quality of its own as well.

From his vantage point at the Hokage tower, Sakumo Hatake observed everything with a calculative eye. His men were holding back Danzo's forces, but they were taking murderous losses, and he knew that they could not hold up without reinforcements soon.

He need not have worried. Help was on its way.

* * *

In the forest of death, inside the ANBU tower, Hatake Kakashi was preparing to go to sleep, when Pakkun, his personal summon appeared in front of him in a haze of smoke.

Pakkun was wheezing, and the pug's eyes were diluted with fear, and immediately Kakashi recognized the signs. Something was wrong.

"Kakashi, Danzo has launched a coup; his men are attacking Konoha as we speak. Your father is besieged from all sides. Without aid, he will soon fall, your father needs you," the dog spoke quickly, while Kakashi nodded silently.

Now, it was all clear. He now understood why Danzo had gone to murderous lengths to have the ANBU banished from the village, and why he had forced them to set up base in a forest, half a day's walk away from the village. He looked out from his office, to see his men lounging around, in their club, noisy with laughter and good cheer.

His orders had been absolute, the ANBU were to be confined within the forest of death, by royal decree, and they could not leave it, without permission from the daimyo, even if the Hokage ordered them to do so. If he stayed in the forest, he would have obeyed orders perfectly, like a good ninja, but at the cost of condemning his own father, and his villagers to their deaths. At the cost of condemning his own family to death.

However, he instead saw himself, as a boy standing with his father. _Whatever happens, remember, we are all family, this village is family. Nothing is more valuable than protecting them, no matter what happens, I don't want you ever to betray these men, contrary to whatever you may have been ordered to do, or offered in return_, his father had said.

He turned around.

"Tenzo," he barked as his deputy appeared within the room, "Get anyone who is able to move, ready within an hour. Fully armed, and prepared for a war."

There was silence for several seconds.

"Boss, are you serious?"

"It's for real, Tenzo. The ANBU is going back to Konoha."

* * *

At one minute after midnight, more than 500 ANBU raced towards their home, being led by the forefront by their commander. After being briefed, the men and women of the ANBU were in a murderous rage, and made a straight line for their home, using Chakra pills to sustain themselves, not even caring for the damage that they might do to themselves by overusing those pills. If they had to die, they would die, but every one of them would take at least ten Root ninja with them before they went down. This they swore on everything that was holy to them.

Within one hour, the ANBU had reached the village gates. As they neared the gates, they could already see the fires raging within the village, and they could hear the sounds of battles, as weapons clashed, and sounds of techniques being unleashed were heard throughout the air.

The gates of Konoha had been sealed shut and a barricade had been set over it, which was being guarded by a team of Root ninja, who paled as soon as they saw a shitload and a half of ANBU, appear at the distance.

Before they could raise the alarm, the gates of Konoha itself, as well as the barricade and the Root team were vaporized into nothing, as they were blown apart by the lightning Jutsu of Sharingan Kakashi. Virtually unopposed, Kakashi strode into the village, with his soldiers behind him.

"No mercy, no surrender, we see, we kill, we find, we kill, today, we hunt Root, move out!" he barked as nearly every ANBU present gave a loud roar and soon, all the ANBU teams vanished into the village.

* * *

In the hospital, things were not going so well for Ibiki and his men. Their ambush had worked perfectly, but there had been far too many Root ninja to deal with, and slowly but steadily, his team of twenty had been reduced to eight, and three of the eight, were critically wounded, amongst them, Anko Mitarashi.

As he watched from the side, one of the Root was about to plunge his sword into Anko's head, when his body blew apart in a spectacular shower of gore, showering everybody in the vicinity with body parts, and guts.

As he watched, a single shinobi appeared in the place where the Root ninja was standing, wearing blue colored armor, and shin guards with metal gauntlets on his forearm, along with an animal mask, while a tattoo of a leaf on his shoulder was visible to everyone.

ANBU.

In front of the amazed eyes of the captive hospital staff, as well as the injured defenders, numerous ANBU poured into the hospital, and engaged the Root ninja, who were slaughtered like livestock.

The level of brutality displayed by them, made even the veteran Ibiki feel a small shiver up his spine.

* * *

Near the hokage tower, Sakumo and his men were busy trying to fend off the endless assault, when suddenly a loud cheer went up from the defenders. As Sakumo watched with relief in his eyes, the incoming ANBU broke upon the assaulting force from behind, who were caught unawares by the sudden assault.

"Well done, boy," Sakumo whispered as he witnessed his son enter the fray himself.

"Let's bring them down," he roared, as his own men gave off a resounding cheer and surged forward.

"Itachi, it is time," he muttered, as his grandson nodded his head.

When he opened his eyes, they were red, with the _Mangekyo Sharingan _blazing in his eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile, the villagers who had boarded up their homes, watched petrified as shinobi of the village battled, slaughtering each other, and they shivered in the sanctity of their homes unsure as to what was going on.

The members of the Uchiha Military Police were putting up a valiant struggle, in trying to halt the rampage of the Root ninja, as well as their hired mercenaries, who were indulging in looting within the village, but they were badly outnumbered, and they realized that if they did not get reinforcements soon, then things would get ugly, very ugly.

However, after a few minutes, a weird sound began to emanate from the air. Howls, howls of animals, canines to be present. Moreover, suddenly, as the amazed Uchiha police officers watched, numerous dogs, the size of bears began to rush into the street, mauling and tearing into the rampaging looters. Belatedly, the Uchiha's realized what they were.

Inuzuka nin-dogs.

Soon, as they watched, a number of ninja from the Inuzuka clan, the Hyuuga, the Nara, the Akimichi, the Yamanaka, all raced into the market square, led by their respective clan heads, and tore into the assaulting enemies.

The final nail in the coffin was the appearance of the ANBU, and the demoralized Root Nin retreated after taking too many losses.

It was a scene that was being repeated at almost every part of the village.

* * *

From his vantage point, Danzo watched emotionlessly, as the wave of his soldiers was beaten back.

It was time.

He slowly unfurled the summoning contract and weaved the seals for the technique.

_"Kuchiyose no Jutsu."_

* * *

Every shinobi in Konoha stiffened as they felt a murderous killing intent spread throughout the village. As the amazed ninja of Konoha watched, the momentary silence was shattered by a large growl, as in the middle of the village, a huge ninja summon appeared.

A large, multi-headed dog with wings, with its eyes having a weird design of concentric circles, and numerous body piercings appeared within the middle of the village.

Instantly, numerous Jutsu rained upon the animal, which batted them aside, and began to charge towards the hokage tower.

At the Hokage tower, every shinobi capable of using a jutsu banded together, and as one, they unleashed their techniques. Katon, Raiton, Suiton, Doton, and Futon techniques, assaulted the creature, which pressed ahead recklessly.

* * *

Emboldened by the sudden change of tides in their fortune, the Root ninja who had begun to pull back, now charged ahead, renewed with vigor.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the hokage tower, the situation was getting desperate. The creature had trampled upon many shinobi, and had been moving forward, when finally it encountered something that made its true master, sit up and take notice from his tower within Amegakure.

* * *

_"Amaterasu," _Itachi muttered, as the eternal black flames of Amaterasu engulfed the creature completely, as it collapsed to the ground, and began to thrash around wildly, while one of its head's was severed and fell to the ground with a resounding thud, as the animal finally became still.

* * *

"Good, but not good enough," the man with numerous piercings on his face muttered, as his eyes glowed for a bit, while the clouds around his tower in Amegakure, began to unleash a torrent of rain.

* * *

Meanwhile, as Itachi walked back amidst congratulations being offered by the ninja of his side, suddenly, a huge roar went up, and Itachi turned around to see what had happened.

"Impossible," he muttered as he watched the three headed giant dog summon get up, and to his horror, he saw that the severed head that had fallen to the ground, was regenerating as well, and in front of his horrified eyes, there were now two giant summons, instead of one. In addition, by their looks, it appeared that they were, to put it mildly, pissed.

Itachi did not waste even a second, _"Susanoo,"_ he muttered as he activated his most powerful technique.

The ethereal spirit form rose in the air, hovering like a hunter, even as its form grew in size to rival the Hokage tower itself.

The spiritual form moved forward, and put up a powerful barrier against which the dogs clashed only to find that their efforts were futile.

As one, both dogs moved back a bit, and opened their mouths, as chakra began to manifest at that area. After a minute, both creatures unleashed their projectiles at the barrier, which was forced back a few meters, but, despite the assault, the barrier held true, although its creator collapsed to his knees, bleeding from his eyes as the strain of keeping the technique up began to manifest itself. Kakashi and Sakumo moved next to Itachi, and stabilized him, and the teen grateful for the assistance did not protest, which he normally would have done.

* * *

_**Meanwhile, at the city market,**_

* * *

The shinobi present at the market square stared in unison at the spectacle before them. In front of them lay the corpses of more than 500 Root ninja, and all of them glared at the person who was responsible for this … _butchery_, with a deep silence as unease rippled through their minds.

Even the members of the caravan with whom the person had traveled with, seemed repulsed at the brutality of the young ninja who had massacred more than 500 people single handedly, without receiving so much as a scratch on his face. They had traveled to Konoha, only to unexpectedly find the village in the middle of a heated civil war, and the young ninja had acted upon his instincts, which thrived in such situations.

_However, unfazed by all this, as he usually was, Sabaku no Gaara made his way towards the two giant creatures, with a look of glee upon his face._

* * *

**_At the Hokage tower,_**

* * *

The demon dog was really beginning to get irritating, Itachi thought, as he tried to withhold Susanoo from disappearing. The strain was nearly destroying his body from inside out, but he knew that without his barrier, everybody inside the Hokage tower complex would die. He had tried to kill the dog by using the _Totsuka no Tsurugi_, but even the legendary spirit blade had done nothing but turn an already dangerous situation, even more volatile. Now, instead of two, there were four giant three headed dogs, each of them surrounding the building from each of the cardinal directions.

Suddenly, as the amazed ninja of Konoha watched, four giant pillars of flames erupted around the dogs. Beautiful and ethereal, the purple colored flames completely engulfed the creatures, which gave an ear-rending howl. In front of the entire populace of Konoha, those flames consumed the creatures, and it was evident that they were suffering. Even with the protection of Susanoo, Itachi felt blisters forming on his wrists from the intense heat that the flames were emitting.

Within moments, the four dogs vanished, burnt to ashes, so much so that not even a spiritual trace was left of them. As the amazed shinobi of Konoha watched, the four pillars of flame, slowly thinned and rose into the air, as they made their way towards the roof of the Hokage tower, where they coalesced to form a beautiful figure. A figure of an angel, made up entirely of purple flames, with wings made up with flaming feathers. Slowly, the angel gave a slow trill reminiscent of a melody, and vanished into the outstretched arms of its summoner.

"_Kurei_," Kakashi whispered as he watched the youngster give the surroundings a once-over before vanishing.

* * *

In Amegakure, for the first time in two decades, the self-proclaimed God of Amegakure watched in silence, as his Animal Path was burnt to ashes within his own chambers, and even Nagato's own wrists, which had been forming the hand seal for the technique were now covered with third degree burns. Nagato had felt this kind of pain only once, and that had been when Salamander Hanzo had burnt his legs off.

His eyes narrowed as he analyzed the new threat. This new threat would need to be taken care of, Nagato decided then and there, as he sent a missive to Madara, informing him of this new development.

* * *

The destruction of the creatures finally made the message sink in, and the ninja of Root finally gave up, as they surrendered.

A huge roar of exultation went up from the ninja of Konoha, so much so, that it was later said that the sound of celebration could be heard in places as far as Nami no Kuni.

* * *

Sabaku no Gaara quietly watched the young ninja who had single handedly dispatched those creatures, with a calculative look in his eyes.

After a while, he gave a soft smile, and left, which nearly gave a heart attack to his elder sister, who stood next to him. For Gaara to smile, meant that he had a new target. Nevertheless, for the first time in her life, Sabaku no Temari wondered whether even Gaara would be able to match the power that they had just witnessed.

* * *

In the catacombs beneath the city, as Danzo hurriedly made his way to his inner sanctum, a voice came out, "Going somewhere, Danzo?" And as soon as he heard that voice, Danzo realized that his plan had failed irrevocably.

_So much for the vaunted efficiency of the Akatsuki,_ he scoffed, as finally everything became clear to him. All the reverses that he had suffered, his recent failures, and now, the reason for all of them, became clear. _It was this man who had ruined everything he had dreamt about, and now he was here to extract his pound of flesh._

He paused, "So, finally here to finish the job that you started all those years ago, eh, _Jiraiya?" _

"Well, it is not like I have a choice, you did cause the deaths of my Sensei, and his family," Jiraiya retorted as he walked forward, with a thin smile on his face.

"Do not disappoint me Danzo, I wish to savor this moment for all eternity," the man growled as he tapped into natural energy before transforming into his Sage mode, while Danzo prepared for what was probably the last battle in his life.


	7. Aftershocks

After the pronounced lull in fighting which followed the decimation of the summoned creatures, and the surrender of the majority of the rebels, Sakumo could finally get to work.

The first order of business was to set up a new base camp, away from the Hokage tower, which had been temporarily converted into the main field hospital of the village, where the injured were being brought in by the dozens, every minute. He left two companies to secure the tower, sent another to reinforce the now damaged village gates, and dispatched another five companies on mop–up operations to eliminate the last legs of the now failed rebellion.

Then, accompanied by his son, and his step–grandson, he left to survey the situation. He had already dispatched Homura and Koharu to deal with the delegation from Kaze no Kuni, who had inadvertently played a major role in helping subdue the rebellion. As he made his way around, he saw that most of the fires were still burning. The village power plant was gutted, but the auxiliary stations were still working, and already under guard by an armed section of the Military Police, he noticed.

Just then, with a subtle whisper of the wind, Shisui Uchiha flickered in front of him, his uniform nearly in tatters, completely drenched in blood; but the youngster was still standing, without a single scratch on him, the others noticed.

"The village is secure, all pockets of resistance are finally down," he proclaimed.

"How did it go, Shisui?"

"Hard, very hard. Their attacks were uncoordinated–but they did not give up easily. Danzo dispatched at least three battalions to eliminate our clan alone, not to mention the rest of the village. We have ninety–one dead and forty–seven wounded within our clan alone, at an early guess, I would say. We have accounted for most of the prisoners; but we also believe that one company of Roots has managed to escape the perimeter of the village. However, four ANBU Battalions led by Uzuki and Tenzo are in pursuit, along with the entire Konoha tracking division, being led personally by Inuzuka Tsume herself in person," the youngster concluded, at which Sakumo raised an eyebrow.

"Hard to believe that that girl would be so forthcoming and rather useful like this," the Godaime muttered, at which Kakashi shook his head.

"One may hate the leader of the village, but at the same time, love the village more than their own life, you above all shouldn't forget that, father," he gently chided, at which Sakumo smirked.

"Kakashi, remind me once again, just who is the father and who is the son?" he asked rhetorically at which everybody shared a laugh.

However, their moment of mirth was shattered in an instant as they noticed Jiraiya approach them, dragging along with him a broken and battered Danzo, who at first glance, appeared to be barely alive.

Instantly, a section of ANBU materialized behind the hokage with weapons drawn, as they took guarding positions around their leader.

Ignoring it all, Sakumo stared at Danzo, who snorted disdainfully at the man.

"Take him into custody, he will be sent to the Daimyo's court to be formally charged and indicted for his crimes," Sakumo ordered curtly, even as two of the ANBU took hold of the man from Jiraiya's custody and restrained him.

Snorting disdainfully, Danzo spat at the feet of Sakumo, and glared at him with a venomous look.

"It is over, Danzo," Sakumo spoke softly as he looked at the old shinobi, with a look that reeked of plain disgust interspersed with a bit of resigned sympathy, "We have taken out your forces, your base has been completely destroyed, and there is nothing left for you," he concluded, while Danzo tried to lunge at the man, frothing with rage, even as the two ANBU restrained him forcefully.

"You think this is over" he roared, even as his voice dripped with venom as he looked at Sakumo, Jiraiya, Itachi, Kakashi & Shisui, who were standing together and glaring at him, "this is not over by a long shot!"

"You are a terrorist, and a murderer, and I intend to do everything within my power to make sure that you pay dearly for your crimes," Sakumo retorted, even as he gestured the ANBU members to take the man away.

Danzo struggled fiercely to break out, even as he nearly screamed, "_My only crime was in trying to protect my country! You think this ends with me? I am just a small cog in a very large machine, you have no idea of what you are up against!_" the old shinobi spoke with such a venomous tone, that for a moment, even Sakumo Hatake's stout heart, skipped a beat.

"Hold on," Kakashi ordered immediately, at which the ANBU stopped dragging Danzo away, even as he approached the man, "what do you mean?"

Uncharacteristically, in a move that unnerved all the five men, Danzo smiled grimly, "you will find out," he whispered, even as his face settled into a smug look.

"Get him out of here," Itachi ordered, with disgust rife in his tone, even as Danzo was dragged away, leaving a terrible silence in his wake.

As one, the five men looked at each other, and arrived at an unspoken consensus. It was not over yet.

* * *

**A Week later,**

**

* * *

**

**In the office of the Mei Terumi, the fifth Mizukage**

**

* * *

**

Kirigakure, literally meaning "Village Hidden in the Mist" is located in the Land of Water. As one of the five great ninja villages, Kirigakure had a Kage as its leader known as the Mizukage. There have been five Mizukage to date, with the current one being Mei Terumi. The first female to ever hold the title.

Unlike the other four major villages, Kirigakure had always remained an isolationist nation, refusing to engage in formal acts of diplomacy with other powers, and maintained a basic level of contact with the rest of the world. Their secluded location and their nearly inaccessible land had made them virtually unassailable, and with the exceptional quality of their shinobi, they were well deserving of their title as one of the great five powers.

And yet, how low the mighty had fallen, the fifth Mizukage mused, as she looked at the portraits of her predecessors. What would they think, she mused as she looked from the vantage point of her office to her village, even as the residents carried on with their daily life. To have stagnated so far, to be considered as the weakest of the great five, what would they think, she mused again as she looked at her mighty predecessors.

The first Mizukage, the man who had literally built their great nation, so powerful a man, that it had taken the combined efforts of the two legendary Senju brothers, Hashirama & Tobirama, to kill him, and even then, Hashirama Senju had lost his life in that battle, and despite the fact that the man had been severely weakened after his battle with the infamous Uchiha Madara, to face both him and his brother together, who were also said to be unbeatable together, and managing to kill the legendary Hashirama himself, despite the fact that that effort cost him his life; the man had truly cemented his place in history as one of the most powerful shinobi to have ever been born, and had proven himself worthy to bear the title of the Shodai Mizukage.

The second Mizukage, another stalwart in her village's history, the man who had literally founded the infamous seven-shinobi swordsmen, and had developed their village into one of the most feared of all. He had lost his life in battle against the equally infamous Muu, the second Tsuchikage, the only man to have ever fought on equal footing with the legendary Hiruzen Sarutobi, the God of Shinobi and third Hokage; and to have killed him, despite losing his life in the process, he too had left a great legacy that was hard to equal.

The Sandaime Mizukage, the man who had managed to subdue both the three-tailed turtle and the six-tailed slug, and had given their village a chance to stand on par with the other nations as a jinchuuriki wielding power, a worthy feat, and no doubt a testament to his prowess.

As her eyes moved on to the portrait of the fourth Mizukage, her eyes clouded with rage. This man, no, this monster, was the reason why her beloved home was now a shell of itself. As the jinchuuriki of the three-tailed turtle, and as one of the only four men in history to have ever completely subdued a tailed beast, he had been without a doubt, the most powerful man to have ever held the title of Mizukage. And despite that, his reign had been nothing short of hell on earth for their village. Responsible for initiating the genocide against their nation's bloodline wielding clans, for leading their country into a decade long civil war, that man had destroyed their village to the roots. In the end, the effort to oust him had nearly caused the destruction of their entire village itself. If not for the sacrifice of the Seven Swordsmen, five of whom had perished in that fight, save for Hoshigaki Kisame and Momochi Zabuza, Kirigakure would not have been standing today. Despite his nature, the man had been an exceptional shinobi, and finally, they had put him down, and killed him by extracting his tailed beast from him in a most painful manner.

* * *

Which had finally paved the way for her to take over, but it was too little, too late.

Kirigakure, was now a shell of itself, and it had fallen to her to rebuild it from the ashes. And she would not fail, she swore to herself, as she leaned back and closed her eyes, only to be startled, when she heard a light cough, come from in front of her, and she instantly jerked herself awake, alert at the ready for any assault.

She relaxed only when she noticed that her two visitors were none other than Ao, the head of their Hunter-nin force, and the other was none other than the infamous Momochi Zabuza, the demon of the hidden mist, and the current leader of the seven swordsmen.

Zabuza, was one of the two survivors of the previous generation of the seven swordsmen, who had all perished in the battle against Yagura, and the only one to have remained in their village, while Hoshigaki Kisame, had fled after being revealed as a traitor, and as the one who had been working with the unknown party that was now rumored to have been the force that had secretly been controlling the fourth Mizukage.

Kisame's loss was a blow no doubt, as the man was known as the most powerful shinobi in the village after Yagura, but even more crushing was the loss of Samehada, his sword, the most powerful of the seven swords, and one of their national treasures. But despite all these setbacks, slowly, but surely, Kirigakure was gaining back lost ground, and now, she finally had an opportunity to display their might to the world, and it had been a stroke of fortune that the Tsuchikage and Raikage had agreed to her proposal. She could not wait to reveal it to her people.

"You should be more alert, Godaime, if you are so careless about your own surroundings, someone might assassinate you, and then we would have to look for a Rokudaime, ne?" Zabuza smirked haughtily, as he looked at her, while Ao just snorted.

Mei just pointed her forefinger at the roof of their chamber, and as both men looked above, they instantly stiffened. Standing on the rafters of the roof, were five identical clones of the Mizukage, alert and armed to the teeth. If they had even thought of making a wrong move, they would have been dead even before taking their next breath.

"This is why I am the Mizukage, and you are not, don't you agree, Zabuza-kun," she smiled beautifully, while both men sweatdropped at the cheerful manner in which she delivered her threat.

"Report, Ao," she ordered curtly, now back to business as their frivolity ended.

"The reports are true, there was an insurrection in Konoha, but it has been put down brutally, thanks to the efforts of the new Hokage, and also of the Toad Sage, reports are sketchy, but it seems that the village has suffered far fewer casualties than expected," the man concluded while Mei narrowed her eyes.

"Enemy Casualties?" Zabuza asked with a frown even as he began to assess the implications of this information.

"The exact number is not known yet, but it is confirmed to be more than three thousand, and at least half of them were rumored to be Jonin," Ao concluded, as he shook his head in reluctant admiration, while Zabuza gave a slow whistle of appreciation.

"Konoha's losses?" Mei asked again, even as her mind raced with possible scenarios on how to take advantage of the situation.

"Less than expected, below eight hundred according to our sources, it seems that Konoha was aware of the impending attack, and they were well prepared, at least certainly better than when the Kaguya invaded us," Ao retorted, while Zabuza snorted disdainfully.

"Those tree-huggers are damn hard to kill, man, what a mindjob," he muttered, while he tried to assimilate the information that had been given.

"I would expect nothing less, they are led by the White Fang after all," Mei retorted softly, while both men stiffened at the mention of that name. There was a reason why Sakumo Hatake was so feared in the world.

"Well, it at least got rid of Shimura Danzo, and that in itself is a matter of celebration," Ao muttered, even as his mouth curled in distaste, while Mei's eyes narrowed.

Regardless of his treachery, Danzo had done everything in his power to insulate Konoha, and to do that, he had taken drastic steps, including acts of Sabotage, which had dented the efforts of every other hidden village in trying to infiltrate the hidden village in leaves. Even more so, was the fact that the man had conducted unsanctioned acts of sabotage against other villages, which had caused severe damage to the intended targets; no, Danzo had not made any friends for himself at all.

"There is another thing, Mizukage-sama," Ao began hesitantly, while Mei looked at him sharply, and even Zabuza became curious after seeing the man's hesitation.

"Preliminary reports state that Danzo used four grand summonings," he began, only to be interrupted by the Mizukage, who took a sharp intake of breath as she stood up, "Wait, Grand Summonings, as in the level of Summonings used by the Sannin, and the Fourth Hokage? Like the one used by Hanzo of Amegakure? _Where did he get that level of summons?_ It is not possible Ao, any shinobi, no matter what his caliber is able to use only one at best at any given time! To use four, and still not win, this is simply not possible! What the hell happened out there?"

Ao winced as he looked at the look of shock on the Mizukage's face, and even Zabuza had become grim at the news, and as both of them looked at him, he winced, because the news he was going to give, was not going to please them.

"The reports states that he used four of them, and the report is that … all of them … were destroyed, more like … completely annihilated and erased from existence."

The room fell completely silent. Ao, watching from the side of the room, experimentally pulled out one of his senbon and listened as it dropped to the floor. Mei was visibly nauseated at the suggestion, and the stillness was finally broken by the shift of metal against wood as Zabuza's Kubikiribocho scraped against the floor.

"Who?" the fifth Mizukage asked in a curt tone, even as she visibly struggled to compose herself, at the magnitude of the revelation.

"Was it the White Fang, or was it Jiraiya of the Sannin? Who could …," she began, only to pause, as Ao looked rather hesitant.

"The reports are too early, for us to make any substantial assessment … but every bit of information suggests that it was the work of the son of the Yondaime Hokage," the man concluded, while the Mizukage slowly shook her head in grim acceptance.

"I see …," she paused, even as she considered the implications of the statement, "I now understand, why the Kazekage has taken such a drastic step … this is indeed going to be a monumental event. In view of what has happened, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised as to why the Raikage and the Tsuchikage agreed to my proposal so quickly, I have no doubt that they too have received this information, and this must be one of the reasons as to why they agreed so quickly," she spoke, as if trying to reason with herself.

"Mizukage-sama, I do not understand," Ao began, only for the Mizukage to stop him, as she stood up and began to pace around.

"_The Raikage, the Tsuchikage, & myself, have agreed in principle and given our vote to convert this year's chunin exams, which are to be held in Konoha, into the new Ura Buto Satsujin_," she concluded, while Ao could not help but gasp in shock.

"Ho … this is … interesting," Zabuza truly gave a frightening smirk, as he looked at his leader with an amused look on his face, "I didn't actually expect you to be so ruthless, Mei-sama," he concluded with an uncharacteristic leer on his face, even as his eyes shook with bloodlust.

"Why, why … Mizukage-sama, what could have forced you to take such a drastic step … it is madness …, it…" Ao began to protest, when Zabuza interrupted.

"Shut up, old man! Just because you are not young enough to hack it any more doesn't mean we can't! This is gonna be fun …" he smirked, while Ao rounded upon him.

"Fun, you call this …Fun? We will now be sending our brightest shinobi to fight in a tournament that has a mortality rate of over ninety percent, and you call it fun? Do you even know what kind of savagery is allowed in that tournament …," Ao began to rant, only to be silenced by the Mizukage as she raised her hand indicating both men to stop arguing.

As she looked at her arguing subordinates, even Mei Terumi felt a bit of apprehension. But then again, considering the disjointed events that had been occurring all around, she was now certain that reinstating the Ura Buto Satsujin was the right choice.

* * *

Usually, Chunin exams were held once a year, in which at the maximum, two to three of the five major villages participated along with the other minor villages, and they were attended to at the best by two of the five Kage's usually, and in some cases by three. However, when due to exceptional circumstances, participants from all the five major villages participated at the same time; the event could no longer be termed as a Chunin exam, which was usually nothing but a controlled war between the two or three major villages that usually participated.

When all five villages competed at the same time, it was nothing short of a controlled world war, and the stakes were unusually higher, and therefore the first Go-Kage council had decided upon a set of rules to be followed in such a situation. In the event where all the five villages were to participate in a chunin exam together, then, by default that exam would be upgraded into a public tournament, which would be presided and judged by the five Kage's themselves.

The rules were also drastically changed in this situation. It would no longer be confined to Genin, who could display their talents and earn the right to be promoted to chunin. Since this was a universal event, which would be witnessed by everyone, many of the villages entered their most upcoming elite shinobi, some even going so far as to register high-level chunin to low-level jonin into the tournament; and that was primarily due to the fact that this tournament wasn't confined just to normal chunin hopeful genin or exceptional prodigies who were a cut far above the rest.

It was an open tournament, and even rogue ninja and nuke-nin were allowed to participate, since by law, they were protected as long as they were participants. This had been a decision taken by the original Go-Kage council, who had believed that if their shinobi couldn't even take care of a few rogue ninja on their own, then they obviously didn't deserve their Hitai-ate, and were easily disposable deadweights. Much of the bloody reputation of the tournament had originated from these participants. Therefore, it really wasn't that surprising that every village would enter at least one elite Jonin into their team's ranks, just to ensure that their teams survived. However, that still did not deter the presence of many bounty hunters and hunter nin who were drawn like moths to flames so that they could take advantage of the immediate aftermath of the tournament, to earn themselves a few prized bounties.

Since the village that won the tournament would be awarded the title of the most powerful hidden village, until the next tournament, where that title would be again up for grabs, the level of honor and prestige accorded by this title, and the benefits that came from such an honor was the reason why the tournament was termed as the most savage and brutal tournament in the history of the shinobi world.

The only stipulation of this tournament was that all recognized S-ranked ninja were forbidden to enter this tournament, and usually this tournament was mostly fought out between young shinobi, who were usually between the level of high chunin to Tokubetsu jonin. In some cases, exceptional genin had been entered as well, but none had survived the tournament. This tournament also had the unique distinction of thrusting new and upcoming shinobi prodigies into the limelight.

To date, in the entire history of the shinobi world, the tournament had been instated only three times, and two times the honor of victory had fallen to Konohagakure, and once to Kumogakure, wherein the first one had been won by the renowned Kingin Kyodai, who would later on become the most infamous nuke-nin to have ever been produced by the Hidden cloud village, but the second one, had been won by Konohagakure, and that was due to fact that the Densetsu no Sannin, who were still chunin at that time had entered the tournament together. Combined with the fact, that all three of them were still together, they had virtually steamrollered all opposition. Led by Orochimaru's tactical knowledge, Jiraiya's brute strength, and Tsunade's resilience, it was a foregone conclusion that Konoha would win, and they had.

It was the last tournament however, that had single-handedly cemented Konoha's current reputation as the most powerful hidden village in the world. It was due to one single person, who had entered the tournament as a lone combatant rather than as a member of a team, and had virtually decimated every opponent he had faced, which had included even her, to her admitted shame. That man was none other than Namikaze Minato, the future fourth Hokage, the destroyer of the Kyuubi, and the man who was acknowledged as a shinobi who was nothing short of a prodigy who arises once a generation.

* * *

And that, she realized, was the reason why the Raikage and the Tsuchikage were so eager to reinstate the fourth version of the Ura Buto Satsujin. If the Yellow Flash's son was to participate, then there would be no better way to evaluate his capabilities than through this savage tournament. She had no doubt that Onoki & Ei would send their most capable Chunin, and even a few Tokubetsu Jonin to this tournament, ostensibly to participate, but in reality, to evaluate the newest Namikaze, and if possible, to eliminate him legally via this tournament, thereby ridding themselves of a future threat.

But it was the Kazekage, who had taken the boldest step by actually registering a Jinchuuriki as a combatant. Even she had to admit that this was an audacious step, possibly the most audacious one taken by any of the Kage ever. And the fact that their Jinchuuriki still fell within the parameters that made him eligible for the chunin exams was just an icing on the cake. She knew all too well, as to how the Kazekage loathed Konohagakure, their so-called allies, and she was certain that the man was planning something, but she had no idea as to what it was. She had heard some vague rumors about some sort of infighting within the royal family of the nation of wind, but that was not her concern. The fact was that she now needed to up the ante and match the actions of the fourth Kazekage. No doubt, the Hokage and the Kazekage wouldn't be pleased that the other three Kage's had gone behind their backs to reinstate this tournament, and given Konoha's current precarious situation, it would be foolish not to take advantage of their misfortune, and besides they were outvoted anyways. They were not some foolish Samurai with honor after all.

"Zabuza," she broke her reverie of thoughts, as she looked at the man, "I have decided who will constitute our village's team for the Ura Buto Satsujin, under your leadership," she declared as both Zabuza and Ao stiffened.

"Mizukage-sama," Ao began, only to be silenced as the Mizukage stood up, "I understand your reservations, Ao, but things are already in motion, and we can't do anything else but go with the flow, you do understand, do you not?" she asked, while the man nodded gingerly.

"We will send Suigetsu, Kimimaro, Haku & Utakata," Mei declared, while both men were taken aback at her selection.

The prodigies of the Hozuki and Kaguya clans, along with Zabuza's daughter, and their prized trump card, the jinchuuriki of the six-tailed Slug, Kagami Utakata, who were to be led by none other than the leader of the seven swordsmen itself.

Never before had Kirigakure fielded such a powerful team in the previous competitions, and this would certainly be a break from their previous traditions. This was a bold step indeed.

"Zabuza, take care of their training for the tournament, no holds barred," the Mizukage ordered them, even as a frightening smirk came upon the man's face.

* * *

**The office of the Raikage, Kumogakure,**

* * *

"So, it is decided, then?" Yugito asked quietly.

The Raikage looked over at the younger woman, knowing why the plan had been formulated. It was a good plan, he admitted to himself, an effective plan. It had elements of brilliance in its daring. But Yugito had allowed personal feelings to influence her judgment. That wasn't so good, as his brother was wont to say. He turned towards the window, and watched the dark night bathing the countryside of Kumogakure in a pale white glow as he considered the ramifications of what they were about to attempt.

"Yes."

"Darui," he turned around and called his personal bodyguard forward, "Summon Samui and her team," he ordered, while the man nodded curtly and vanished instantly.

"Do you really think that reinstating the Ura Buto Satsujin was a good choice, Raikage-sama?" Shi, his other bodyguard asked quietly, while the Raikage became pensive.

"We have no choice, Shi, that fool of a Kazekage has upped the stakes enormously by entering his Jinchuuriki into the tournament. The only way to prevent a world war from erupting by this mistake, is to preempt it, by having a controlled version of it take place right under our noses, " Ei retorted, while Shi's eyes narrowed.

"Still, this seems to be a rather extreme step, Raikage-sama, the nature of this tournament … for the first time, I am actually worried for the safety of Samui and her team, no disrespect intended to your brother, seeing that they are his students, but still … it seems like even Darui will have his work cut out for him…," the man continued, only to be interrupted by Yugito.

"By nature, using a Jinchuuriki is nothing short of an ultimate sanction," the woman retorted, "It is basically a last ditch resort used to make a world-scale threat think twice, to be used only when the situation is such that not using it would mean the total destruction of everything you hold dear. That is the reason why Jinchuuriki are deployed only during major wars, more like only world wars, and they are never sent on normal ninja missions, unless there is a dire requirement, simply because …," the woman paused, as the Raikage stood up, looking unusually somber.

"Simply because … they are too strong," the Raikage concluded, as the woman nodded in agreement.

"Exactly, we have no subtle register. _We are all or nothing._"

"Wait, so you mean to say …," Shi began, only to be interrupted by the jinchuuriki of the Nibi no Nekomata again, "There is a reason ultimate sanctions rarely work, Shi. Look at Bee & me for example. Even I am troubled by the combined potential that we both possess. If both of us cut loose together, we would …,"

"Stop anything," the Raikage muttered.

"Destroy everything," Shi muttered in horrified realization.

"Exactly, and while we have not yet gained any solid evidence on the abilities of the Jinchuuriki of Suna, all the evidence we do have, points to the possibility that he has gained complete dominance over his beast, just like Bee, something which even I have not yet achieved. And the only other people capable of doing so were the fourth Mizukage, the first Hokage and Uchiha Madara, and the only one currently alive with that level of ability is Bee," she concluded, while Shi felt his brow dampen.

"People against whom even I would have a small chance of gaining victory," the Raikage muttered morosely, while Shi finally understood the implications that his leader was trying to convey.

"What the hell is Suna doing by entering someone like that into the tournament?" he wondered, even as both the Raikage & Yugito silently asked themselves the same question.

"I wouldn't have bothered with this shit at all, if that damn fool of a Kazekage hadn't taken such a drastic step, but considering the spate of accidents that has befallen Konoha of late, I can't help but think that we are missing looking at the larger picture. By using a Jinchuuriki, they are doing nothing short of giving an open declaration of war, and regardless of our stand, we are going to be dragged into it, unless we do something to prevent it from happening. I have no desire to fight in a war that I have not initiated," the Raikage declared flatly while both Yugito and Shi nodded in agreement.

Their thoughts were suddenly broken as they noticed Darui come in with the Kumo Sanken, the team of three chunin who had been trained by the Raikage's brother; Samui, and her teammates, Omoi & Karui.

* * *

**The office of the Tsuchikage, Iwagakure,**

* * *

Within his office, Ryōtenbin no Onoki, the Sandaime Tsuchikage of Iwagakure could feel another of his headaches coming up, considering the amount of mental stress he had been subjected to lately.

Ōnoki was an old man, the size of one and half times his Kage hat, which guarded his backside like a shield. His facial features included a triangular beard and a mustache with angular corners. He had a big red nose and thick rectangular-shaped eyebrows, while the top of his head was completely bald, although, he had some white hair at the back and sides of his head, the back of which was tied with a yellow ribbon into a topknot. Ōnoki wore his usual apparel of a unique green and yellow coat with a red collar underneath which was an Iwagakure flak jacket.

"Aw, man! It is a pain getting involved in these things at my age!" the old man grumbled as he looked around.

"You young fools don't know what it is like, when your hips are your greatest enemies!" the pudgy and midget old man grumbled. His own Kage hat, which he had strapped on his back, was around 3/4ths of his body length.

His granddaughter and her teammate, who were accompanied by his son-in-law, did not react, being all too well aware of the eccentric old man's mood swings.

"Damn that Sarutobi, getting his old ass killed by some unknown punk, now he leaves me to be the lone sensible voice of our group, and here I was, thinking that I would croak before him," the old man muttered snidely, even as he made his way back to his seat.

"I don't like this, all of this is happening too fast and too quickly," Kitsuchi retorted, even as he looked at his father-in-law. "We have barely managed to recover from our wars with Iwa & Konoha, and now, an Ura Buto Satsujin of all things? I mean, damn…," the man began, only to stop as Onoki snorted disdainfully.

"You think it makes me feel any better? We barely managed to fend off Suna by fighting them to a draw, and that too while maintaining a depleted force, which had not yet recovered completely from the third world war. And now, this shit," the old man grumbled, as his face became pensive.

"There is something seriously off in the land of wind, I can feel it in my bones. I have never witnessed such a perfect jinchuuriki, since the likes of Yagura and Bee, and this boy, he just… he is just so wrong on so many levels. It is a miracle that we managed to fend him off, despite having both Roushi and Han abandon us like they did. If it wasn't for Deidara …," Onoki grumbled, despite the fact that his face glowed with satisfaction at the fact that it was his apprentice, who had managed to do the impossible and fight Sabaku no Gaara to a stalemate.

"Then why this, why would you agree to the proposal of the Mizukage?" Kitsuchi asked, even as his eyes narrowed.

"There are just too many disjointed things happening, Kitsuchi," Onoki grumbled, "For one thing, I can never recall a time, when the land of wind was this aggressive, makes me wonder if everything is actually hunky-dory in the Imagawa family," the old Kage mused as he continued, "Look at what is happening, Sarutobi of all people gets assassinated, at the same time Danzo tries to stage a coup and gets his ass kicked, and both Hatake and Jiraiya have come back running to the village, and now we hear the rumor that the Yellow Flash's son is about to make his debut. At the same time, we have that damn sociopath of a brat, Gaara, preparing to enter a measly chunin exam of all things! Give me a break, the day a damn jinchuuriki needs to prove his worth by entering a measly chunin exam will be the day the damn sun sets in the east and rises in the west!"

"You think that they may be planning to start another war, with Konoha no less?" Kitsuchi asked, even as his eyes narrowed.

"I doubt it, those tree-huggers are a completely different breed of shinobi altogether. They may have lost the Yellow Flash to the Kyuubi, but they still managed to force Kumo to back off without escalating that Hyuuga incident to a war. And if I know those brats in Kumo, they wouldn't retreat to save their own hides, even if all the tailed beasts came up on them. No, something happened to make them back off during the Hyuuga incident, but what…," the old Kage mused, even as he continued, "Despite all the setbacks they have suffered, they have retained their position at the top of the chain. Still, even they too are looking rather shaky now, Sarutobi's death is a great blow, no doubt, and then this coup by Danzo, which has cost them around four thousand ninja; their only saving grace is that the White fang and the Toad are back, and now we are hearing rumors that the Yellow Flash's son is going to come out, it is as if somebody is forcing Konoha to reveal its trump cards at once in order to…," the old man stopped, as his eyes widened in realization.

"I see, very clever, I underestimated that girl in Kiri, and now I understand why Ei also approved, damn, and I thought that this was going to be quiet," Onoki grumbled, while Kitsuchi became surprised to see the level of emotion the old man was displaying.

"The Kazekage is playing a dangerous game," Onoki grumbled, as he looked at his son-in-law, "they are sending in that prick, Gaara, to get rid of the Yondaime Hokage's son, no doubt about it," the old man declared, while Kitsuchi's eyebrows rose a mite higher. "Killing the son of the Yellow Flash will give Sunagakure a massive boost of reputation no doubt, but it also gives them the chance of eliminating a major potential threat in the future. That is why Kiri and Kumo are pressing me to approve this tournament, because in case Suna fails, it gives us a shot at the boy as well, and I say we would be fools to miss it. I have no desire to see another Yellow Flash coming into existence, after all," the old man declared, while Kitsuchi subconsciously agreed.

"But," Old man Onoki smirked, as a cruel smile came upon his lips, "I say, that we use this to take out two birds with one stone. If there is anyone who has a chance of killing Gaara, it would be a Namikaze, so, I say that we wait, until either of them takes the other out, and then we take out the survivor," the old man spoke, while Kitsuchi narrowed his eyes.

Now it wasn't Suna being ambitious, but this, this was playing with fire. But, even Kitsuchi had to agree that if anyone had a chance of taking out the monstrous Gaara, it would have to be a Namikaze, and if the boy had inherited his father's Hiraishin, then there would be no doubt that Gaara would be buried under his own sand itself. But that left the question of who they could send to take out a Namikaze of all people, and as he eyed his father-in-law, he saw that the old man had come to same conclusion as well.

"Kitsuchi, start training Akatsuchi and Kurotsuchi for the tournament, and train yourself at that, you are the leader after all," Onoki ordered as the man nodded curtly, "I guess I will finally have to train Deidara to use Dust Release after all, he will need it, if he has to face both Gaara and a Namikaze," the old man grumbled, as he made his way out of the chamber, ignoring the look of profound shock on his son-in-law's face.

* * *

**In the Palace of Lord Oda Nobunaga, the general of Kaze no Kuni,**

* * *

As he read the joint declaration issued by the Tsuchikage, The Raikage & The Mizukage, wherein they had announced their intention to reinstate the Ura Buto Satsujin, and the fact that they had used their authority as three of the five Kage's to make it official, General Nobunaga's blood literally boiled in anger.

The Yondaime Kazekage, who was standing at the opposite end of the room staring out of the window into the snowy forecourt, heard the general rant and rave in bleak silence. Inside however, his mind was racing with possible ramifications if an Ura Buto Satsujin were to be reinstated.

"There is no way to prevent this?" the general asked after a moment, as he looked at his cohort, who just shrugged.

"I am outvoted in this matter, general, all that is required to instate an Ura Buto Satsujin is three votes from five of the reigning Kage's. Even if Sakumo and I protest, it is of no use, we are effectively barred and locked out of this. There is no way out now, this year instead of the chunin exams, and after a lull of eighteen years may I add, the Ura Buto Satsujin will return, and I along with the other Four Kage's will have to officiate as a judge," the Kazekage replied quietly, while the general's face flushed red in color with anger.

"Why? Why the hell are they interfering now of all times?" the general exploded in anger, as he vented out his frustration. The Kazekage was not usually accustomed to being the target of other people's frustrations, and usually those who did died a very silent death by the hands of The Living Wind, but, general Nobunaga was not just somebody. He was, the Kazekage admitted grudgingly, the only ally he had, in the royal court. If not for the patronage of the General, Sunagakure would have been in dire straits currently. Prior to Nobunaga's ascension to that post, the previous general had advocated the outsourcing of much of their clandestine work in order to reduce the financial strain that Suna had been imposing on Kaze no Kuni, a fate that would have spelled certain doom for their village.

Recognizing the threat, the Yondaime Kazekage had taken preemptive action at the suggestion of his acquaintance, the then prince Nobunaga, and within a week, the previous general had been found dead, with his throat slit, inside his own house at that. A day later, Imagawa Yoshimoto had promoted his nephew, Prince Nobunaga, to the post of general, and three weeks later, the general had tripled the budget of Sunagakure, thereby alleviating a potential financial crisis for the village. A mutually beneficial transaction according to his opinion.

A year later, when war had broken out between Tsuchi no Kuni and Kaze no Kuni, it was due to the combined efforts of the brilliant strategies invoked by General Nobunaga, backed by the efforts of the Shinobi of Sunagakure, especially their jinchuuriki, Gaara, that Sunagakure had proven its worth. Their blitzkrieg of victories had driven home the fact that Suna was not weak, and at the same time their reputation had risen considerably, and that insulting moniker of the weakest hidden village had been passed on to Kirigakure instead.

Apart from one extraordinary mishap, where Gaara had been forced to a stalemate in battle against the personal apprentice of the Sandaime Tsuchikage himself, theirs had been an unimpeded saga of victory.

Finally, the daimyo of Tsuchi no Kuni had had enough and had sued for peace, thereby salvaging their honor and cementing their reputation.

But now, he understood what was going on. With the death of the Sandaime Hokage, the strongest of all Kage's, and the recent failed Coup, Konoha, the proclaimed strongest hidden village was for the first time, in a situation of crisis, and all the others wanted a slice of the pie.

_It was foolish on my part to assume that the others would not try to take advantage of this fact as well_, the Kazekage mused, _in retrospect, I should have seen this coming_, he chided himself.

_Surely, not only us, but all the villages are apprehensive at the prospect that the son of that damned Namikaze is going to debut as a shinobi, and it is not surprising that they all want a chance to nip this potential threat in the bud_, he theorized.

But that, he realized had thrown an unexpected wrench into their planned invasion of Hi no Kuni, and that, he will not tolerate, the Kage mused as he looked at the irate general.

"I warned you that registering a Jinchuuriki as a participant in the exams would provoke this response, general," he spoke softly, while the general flushed.

"Let me speak," the Kazekage interrupted, before the general could retort, "I told you that we could have simply avoided all this, by taking Gaara as my personal bodyguard, during my visit to the final round of the exams. In that way, an alarm of this level would never have been raised, and we would have had a perfect opportunity to pull off our plan. But, by registering Gaara as a participant, which was tantamount to a public declaration of our intent to wage war, we have now invited the scrutiny of all the other nations as well," the man concluded while the General's eyes narrowed.

"Do remember that this was forced upon us by my uncle, and that we had no choice," the general snarled, while the Kazekage narrowed his face.

"A situation that you unnecessarily invited upon us by playing your hand too soon in trying to challenge him," the Yondaime Kazekage retorted coolly, while the general smashed his fist on his desk.

"You forget your place, Kazekage-dono," the general snarled as he looked at his ally, who looked as nonchalant as ever.

"Let me be frank, General, right now the situation is extremely serious. It is possible that we may have to reschedule our timeframe for the invasion. Even if Gaara manages to kill the Namikaze, do remember that all the Kage's will be present at the venue at that time. Despite our prowess, even both myself and Orochimaru can never hope to match four Kage's at the same time, and that is not ignoring the fact that each of them will be accompanied by their most elite shinobi. It would be far wiser to scrap that invasion and instead launch a coup of our own, so that you may take over Kaze no Kuni, and I admit that this is a safer option, since we cannot be certain of Orochimaru's trust in any case," the man offered, while the general narrowed his eyes.

"You forget, Kazekage," the general replied icily, as he looked at the man, "that we could achieve our aims no doubt, by launching a coup of our own, but that would be at the cost of inviting a never ending civil war, with that bastard cousin of mine as its leader. No, for me to gain total dominion over Kaze no Kuni, the only way is to have my uncle utterly discredited, so that he may be deposed, and to see that that whoreson of my cousin is reduced to a non-entity. And for that to happen, my uncle's peace initiative must fail, and I must prove my worth by defeating the undefeated Hi no Kuni & Konoha, to cement my claim as a capable ruler for our glorious country," the general nearly spoke in an hysterical tone, while the Kazekage remained impassive.

"You are retained, Kazekage, at my side, the closest man to me, the man destined to have more power in Kaze no Kuni than any save me, to prevent me being sabotaged. What do you say to this?"

"It was foolish of us to not expect the other villages to try and take advantage of Konoha's misfortunes, general," he spoke harshly, at which the general narrowed his eyes, even though he had to admit the logic behind the words.

"We do not hold a monopoly on deceit and treachery after all, and in a way, I suggest that we take advantage of this situation," the man paused, while the general became curious at that.

"How do you propose to do that, Kazekage?" the general asked in frank curiosity as he looked at his colleague.

"It would be better if you were to remain in the dark, about this, general, it is called deniability after all. I must admit, it is a rather bold initiative of mine, but I am certain that my chosen operative will pull this task off. For now, I suggest that we come up with a better way to think of how we can turn this tournament to our advantage, because you and I both know that Gaara is going to win this tournament, and the benefits of winning such a prestigious event are not to be dismissed in any case," the man offered, while the slightly mollified general nodded gingerly.

As immersed as they were in their conversation, neither of them noticed a certain individual who was wearing a black cloak, with a design of red clouds upon them, who had been watching their conversation from the beginning, disappear silently into the ground.

* * *

**In the dungeons of the royal prison of Hi no Kuni,**

* * *

Shimura Danzo, the man who had tried to overthrow Konoha, was now by the personal order of the daimyo of Hi no Kuni, declared as a high level criminal and had been sentenced to solitary confinement until his impending trial.

Inside his cell, the old man had resigned himself to his fate, and was reflecting upon all the events that had occurred until now. Regardless of his actions, he was a man who had been born in an age of blood, and had been baptized in war. Death was nothing new to him, and if nothing else, he was prepared to go out, defiant, with his head held high. He owed himself that much.

His musings were suddenly cut short as he sensed the subtle weaving of a massive genjutsu being layered around the place. Whoever it was, they were good, Danzo admitted, as he sensed the work. Easily an S-class level illusion, he realized, meaning that he was about to have a visitor.

He was not disappointed, as moments later, a flock of white butterflies entered his corridor, and slowly they merged in order to form the figure of a woman.

She was a striking woman, no doubt, and had blue colored hair, with a piercing on her bottom lip, and was wearing a black cloak, with the design of red clouds upon it. The Akatsuki.

"Well, it's about time, you people showed up, I expected you to be more diligent," the man retorted as he looked at the kunoichi. For some odd reason, he could not help but think that he had seen her somewhere else, but he could not recall where.

"Hello, Danzo-san," the woman greeted him coolly.

Danzo ignored the formalities and got straight to the point.

"Well, I am not going to ask how you got in here, but I am definitely interested in how you are going to get me out of here," he retorted, while the woman remained impassive.

"Danzo-san, you are in a very difficult position, and your actions last week ago have put all the others involved in a very difficult position," the woman retorted, while Danzo scoffed.

"Oh … I see, so, I have upset the cart, have I? Everyone's bent out of shape? Where the hell were they when Sakumo and his goon-squad came after my people? Where were they when these damn bastards were trying to ruin everything that I had ever built in my life?" the man snarled, nearly frothing at the mouth, while the woman remained unfazed.

"You would have been protected, Danzo. You and the 'Root', but you jeopardized the plan," the woman replied again, while Danzo snarled, "Your Plan! Not mine! I was in this only to save my people, and my life's work," he exploded, while the woman just shook her head in resignation at the obstinacy of the old man.

"That summoning contract that we entrusted to you was never meant for your frivolous personal use. Yes, you did purchase it from us, but we had given you clear instructions as to when and where it was to be used, but you did not hold up to your end of the bargain. Now, because of your overzealousness, all the shinobi nations are now aware of the possibility that another party exists outside the boundaries of the existing shinobi communities, with the capability of having S-ranked summons in their possession. Even a single wisp of smoke can be traced back to the spark that generated it, and your actions have very nearly revealed the existence of the Akatsuki," the woman spoke harshly, while Danzo glared at her.

"So, what are you here for then?"

"The consensus among the group is that you have undergone some sort of psychotic break."

"Well, the consensus is wrong!"

"Coming from you right now, that is not much comfort."

"I want to talk to them. Arrange some sort of communication between us, now…,"

"It is a little late for that, Danzo. You've brought undue attention to yourself, and by extension, to us, by showing your hand and exposing yourself. And you may understand our concern, that you could expose the existence of our group as well."

"How can I do that? I don't even know who they are," Danzo replied in a huff, while the woman snorted in disdain.

"_You know enough, and they need to be certain. I think we can both agree, that there is no reason for your granddaughter to pay for your mistakes._"

Danzo whirled around in shock, even as every part of his body felt as if it had been electrified.

_How could they … how do they … It is not possible … no one knows …_

Only a lifetime's worth of experience as a ninja allowed him to regain his composure, but the damage had been done. The woman already knew that she had won.

"Is that why you are here? To threaten the existence of my last living family member?"

"On the contrary, we are here to guarantee her safety, if you do the right thing, that is. Besides, she is not even aware that she has a grandfather after all, & believes herself to be an orphan, does she not? A rather ingenious way of devising her safety. By denying her birthright, you have guaranteed her right to live, most impressive," the woman concluded as he she held forth her hand, and he noticed that a small red pill resided within her palm.

Danzo stiffened as the implication hit him like a thunderbolt.

"It'll induce a cardiac arrest and leave no trace in your system, and it will also smudge all your memories after your demise. A natural, dignified death instead of a humiliating execution. Without you to prosecute, the case against your followers will be weakened, most likely impossible, and will in at least a small way, preserve a small part of the legacy of Root's patriotic service, which I know is more important to you than anything in this world; and they may even survive the unwilling and unwitting fate you have thrust upon them," the woman concluded, while a myriad of emotions ran through Danzo's face for an instant, before his face once again became stone-calm as it always was.

Without a word, Danzo picked up the pill and under the watchful gaze of the woman, swallowed it, and turned his back on her afterwards, clearly dismissing her from his presence.

Before he reached his cot, he could hear the woman's voice, "One last thing, Danzo-san, the group wishes to know if the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi is alive, or if it has really perished. You are the only one apart from Sarutobi and the two elders, who knows the truth. So, let us know the truth," the woman spoke curtly, while Danzo paused for a second, and smirked sarcastically.

"He is dead."

Without uttering another word, the woman vanished, while Danzo collapsed on the cot, even as his body began to convulse from the effects of the pill.

The last thing that came before Shimura Danzo's eyes before they closed forever, was the image of a young girl, with her hair stylized in two Chinese-style buns and deep brown eyes, as she played around with her friends, which included a Hyuuga, a boy wearing green spandex, with large eyebrows, and an adult version of that aforementioned boy.

With a smile on his face, Shimura Danzo passed away, not knowing the catastrophe that his death would bring about.

* * *

**Meanwhile, around the same time, in Konoha, at the Uchiha clan enclave,**

* * *

The intruder stared quietly at the building in front of him, preparing to infiltrate it. He was wearing a sheer black bodysuit, along with a porcelain mask, (similar to what the ANBU used) with the face of a weasel painted upon it, which was covering his face, and on his back, he had a small rucksack strapped on, along with a kunai holster strapped on his right thigh.

He finally stepped forward to infiltrate his target, the Uchiha clan enclave.

As he neared the back entrance, he quietly sent out a chakra pulse, which was undetectable to anyone save the initiator, and waited as the backlash pinpointed to him the location of all the sentries who were currently patrolling the place.

As he slowly crept up towards the gate, he noticed at least four guards lounging around. Judging by their uniforms, it appeared that they were members of the Konoha Military Police. He slowly made his way around, and came quite near the gate, without tipping them off. Their idle banter was good–natured enough, thirty meters away. One was talking about his girlfriend in rather crude terms, boasting of what she did to him and what he did to her.

Slowly, he reached into his rucksack and brought out its content, a rather large and irate snake. It was a non venomous one of course, but, it was large, black, and looked deadly scary, and after slapping it on the nose twice, he enraged it just enough to make it hiss about in anger, and threw it near the four of them.

Instantly, screams could be heard from all over, as the four deadbeat guards freaked out, and pulled out all sorts of weaponry to deal with the snake, while many more guards from all around the place, raced to their position.

Once the mayhem became sufficient enough, the intruder backtracked quietly from that place and went to the front entrance. As expected, all the guards at the front had gone over to the back to look over the commotion, leaving the front unguarded for a few moments. He lightly vaulted over the gates, and quickly made his way over to the gardens at the side, and climbed up a tree, as he prepared to scope out the building.

"Kami, it is like a frickin' castle," he murmured, before he found out the blind spot. Instantly, he jumped from one tree to the other, and made his way to a cleft, between the west and northwestern portion of the building, which was covered by an untended growth of shrubbery. As soon as he made his way over there, he slowly began to crawl over the side of the buildings, using his chakra to stick to the walls.

As soon as he reached the roof, he lightly vaulted over the ledge and landed softly on the roof.

There was one lone sentry on the roof, who was smoking a cigarette. He slowly made his way over to him, without making a sound.

When he reached directly behind the teenager, the intruder lightly tapped him on the shoulder to draw his attention.

"What the …," the guy turned around in shock to face the intruder, only to receive a precise jab three centimeters below his left lung, which instantly dropped him like a sack of potatoes.

Slowly, the intruder made his way over to the ledge and vaulted down, even as he jumped into the room below by way of the ventilator that was open.

His target was asleep, as evidenced by the lump on the mattress ahead, when suddenly, a kunai passed by grazing his neck by just millimeters, as a voice came out.

"You are quite good, but not that good. Drop your weapons, remove your mask, and turn around slowly, or else, things will go very badly for you," the calm and controlled voice of Uchiha Itachi came out, even as the would-be assassin stiffened, as the Itachi on the bed also woke up, while the Itachi behind him approached him softly.

"Shadow clone," the assassin murmured in realization, even as he watched the Itachi on the bed disappear with a burst of smoke.

"Well, I suppose it was too good to last, considering who you are," the assassin spoke in a rather feminine tone, which startled Itachi for a second before his eyes narrowed. As he watched, the assassin removed his mask, even as a mane of luxurious and lengthy blonde colored hair fell down flowing freely in the night breeze.

Even Itachi's composure nearly broke for a minute as he realized that the assassin was a woman, which was further confirmed when he heard the sound of a zipper being pulled down, as the assassin removed the top half of her suit, to reveal that she was wearing a flak jacket inside, which revealed her rather feminine figure that had been covered by the black bodysuit.

However, even Uchiha Itachi's stoic façade shattered into a million pieces as the assassin turned back to face him, at which, for probably the first time in his life, Uchiha Itachi's jaws fell wide open.

Standing in front of him, in the middle of the night, inside his bedroom, was the eldest daughter of the Yondaime Kazekage, Sabaku no Temari.

* * *

**Author's note:**

Damn, that felt good. Nearly 10k of words, and it took me four months to write.

Now, I know that most of you may feel a bit disjointed, so, I will give you a brief outlay of what I am planning to do.

As you know, the Ura Buto Satsujin is a concept of Flame of Recca, and since this is sort of a crossover story which incorporates its elements in the Naruto world, I have used it here. Basically, what we have here is a race between the other four villages to try and take advantage of the crisis that Konoha is currently in.

Well, obviously the rookie 11 won't exist in my story (like canon), they will be there, but not in the way that you expect.

Now, the invasion of Konoha arc will be modified here as you have realized, but Orochimaru will still make his play, but in a way you can't imagine.

You may notice that the behavior of the main villages are vastly different. Kirigakure will be playing a major role, and I have revamped it, so that it plays with a full card, including the revived seven swordsmen and re-integrated bloodline clans. Same for the other villages, who will play with their full decks.

Now, you may feel some characters are being hyped unnecessarily with regards to power levels, but I think that is a moot point, seeing what Kishimoto has done to the Manga anyway. Regardless of how much I power them up, it can in no way match the ridiculous power-ups that Kishimoto showers on the characters, so I guess I am covered there.

This tournament will take over the next few chapters, and I will reveal some of the teams right away.

From Kumo, Darui will lead, but the main fighters will be Samui, Karui & Omoi, and maybe Samui's brother Atsui as well.

From Kiri, we have Suigetsu, Kimimaro, Haku, & Utakata, with Zabuza leading.

From Iwa, there will be Akatsuchi, Kurotsuchi, & Deidara being led by Kitsuchi.

From Suna, Gaara will enter as a lone combatant, leaving Temari & Kankuro along with two others who I have yet to decide, with Baki as the obvious leader.

From Konoha, Kurei will be a single combatant, but there will be another team, led by Shisui, and I have yet to decide the members.

Since Nuke-nin are present, Obviously Akatsuki are going to enter, since I made that loophole for them. I invite suggestions for you all, including possible members. Please note that Deidara and Sasori are not members here, so it will have to be someone else. S ranked nin are banned, so it will have to be someone who is S –ranked, but not recognized as such. That will be a tough one.

Another note, even though elite ninjas like Darui, Zabuza, Kitsuchi, Baki & Shisui will be named as leaders, they will not be the ones who will be doing the fighting. Their job is to get involved only if an unexpected opponent of high calber gets involved. They are more like an insurance policy, and are there to make sure that their teams do not get way over their head, and to see to it that their members are not targeted by people who are far beyond the abilities of their charges.

And before you all gang up on me, wondering how Jiraiya could kick Danzo's ass so thoroughly, you have to remember that he doesn't have a dozen sharingan eys in his right arm this time, and no modified Mokuton dna infused in him as well. So, he is tough, but not that tough, and against Jiraiya in Sage Mode, enough said.

One final thing, this story will have a lot of MCD's (Main character Deaths), so I hope you guys are not squeamish, because this story is about to take a very bloody turn.


	8. Ura Buto Satsujin: Prologue

Uchiha Itachi sat in a locked room in the main building of the Konoha Military Police force and listened to the last sentences of the tape recording on the machine in front of him, even as it winded to a close.

'…_goes without saying that this news does not pass outside those present in this room. Our next meeting will be today week.'_

The voice of Imagawa Yoshimoto died away and the tape hissed on the machine, and then stopped. Itachi switched off. He leaned back and closed his eyes.

If it was true, then what he held in his hands was bigger than anything ever handled before in the annals of espionage. He doubted if even Jiraiya-sama could have pulled off an intelligence coup of this magnitude.

His problem, when he took this tape, to his grandfather for analysis and authentication, as he knew he must, was how to cover his source. Unknowingly, his mind wavered back to the events that had occurred in the sanctity of his bedchamber, the previous night.

* * *

"_I take it that you are surprised to see me here," Temari asked wanly, as she stared at Itachi, even as he slowly moved back and re-sheathed his kunai in its holster._

"_Your presence here…," he spoke quietly, "is unexpected, but not improbable, as are many other things, which I have come to learn within our world," he finished with a guarded tone, even as Temari gracefully sank down into a chair and looked at him with a thin smile on her face, even as she crossed her legs, and made herself comfortable._

"_You have invaded my home, and have attempted to slay me, if not that, then at least provoke me into a fight with you, all in all, you started this meeting, and you took this initiative. What for? What is your purpose here?" _

_Temari quietly took out a small sealed packet from within the folds of her suit, and held it up clearly to avoid any misconceptions. It was a sealed packet, and within it, clearly laid an audio tape._

"_I wish for you to take this to your grandfather," she spoke simply as she threw it towards him, even as Itachi deftly caught it out of the air, and analyzed it. _

"_Rather presumptuous of you, to make such a demand, when you have not even given me a reason as to why I should trust you?" Itachi looked at her, even as he raised his eyebrows delicately. That did trigger a reaction from Temari, who stood up, her nostrils flaring with anger as she stared at him. _

"_Trust?" she asked scathingly, "you ask for trust … do you even imagine the sort of scandal that would befall my home and my family, if I was to be discovered in your bedroom now? Isn't the fact that I am here despite all that ... trust enough?" she all but screamed, even though her voice did not rise any higher, and for the first time, Itachi had the grace to look abashed._

_She was the daughter of the Kazekage, close to royalty within shinobi circles, and if she were to be found, in the bedroom of the grandson of the Hokage no less, then the scandal that would ensue, and its repercussions would be severe. Severe for him, but fatal to her. By default, he would be arrested, and thrown into prison, for consorting with a possible enemy, and at the worst, his entire clan would be disgraced, on suspicion of being traitors, and perhaps, even Sakumo-Jiisama would be forced to abdicate his position as Hokage._

_However, she … she would definitely be executed, and that would be just for starters. The penalty for treason, especially by the family members of a Kage, the closest thing to heresy in the shinobi world, was too severe to even contemplate. Even the mere suspicion that a Kage's family member could be a traitor could spell doom for their entire village. Even the complete razing down of Sunagakure itself, given the extreme laws of Kaze no Kuni, was not out of the realm of possibility. _

_For the first time, Itachi realized what an extreme risk the young woman in front of him had taken, but anything that could force a Kage's family member to such extremity …_

"_What's in this tape?" he asked her harshly, while Temari just shrugged, "You will not trust me, until you hear it for yourself. If you do, and when you authenticate it, which I know you will, come find me and we will talk more. Know this, I take no pleasure in doing this, but just like you, I too am loyal to my home and will do anything to protect it, even from its own people, if necessary." _

_And with that, using a high-speed wind Shunshin technique, she had vanished, leaving Itachi Uchiha alone to contemplate her words._

* * *

Itachi knew that if he admitted to the secret rendezvous in his bedchamber, the following questions would be asked: 'Why you, Itachi? How did she know you?' It would be impossible to avoid that question and equally impossible to answer it. The only solution was to devise an alternative source, credible and uncheckable.

He instantly opened up the files on the members of the current delegation from Kaze no Kuni and Sunagakure no Sato, and began to rifle through those files, in order to find a prospective candidate, until his eyes settled on one person in particular.

Akasuna no Sasori.

The legendary retired shinobi of Sunagakure and the current chief of the daimyo of Kaze no Kuni's personal shinobi guards. Itachi checked his files and came up with Sasori's history. The top shinobi of Suna, prior to the ascension of the fourth Kazekage, grandson of the second Kazekage, and of Lady Chiyo, the founder of the Kugutsu Arts. It was certainly an impressive pedigree. Equally impressive were his accomplishments. Founding the Kugutsu brigade of Sunagakure, taking down the Sandaime Kazekage and his ill-fated rebellion, although admittedly, he had assistance from the current Kazekage. Shortly after the ascension of the Yondaime Kazekage, he had quit Suna and had appeared in Yoshimoto's inner circle.

Did he quit in disgust? Or a clash with the Yondaime Kazekage? Was he bitter at being passed over for the post? The animosity and the clashes between the man and the Kazekage were nearly legendary. They were all perfectly plausible, and all interesting to an intelligence chief in a foreign capital.

Sasori, he mused. Maybe. Just maybe. He too would have access to this information, and it was a given, since as he was the principal bodyguard of the daimyo, he would always be in the shadow of the daimyo. Ever present, but silent, and unobtrusive, a perfect choice for a spy.

"Sorry, Sasori-san, but you have just changed sides," he muttered as he sealed up the tape and stood up, to go and meet with Sakumo.

* * *

In the Hokage tower, Itachi came face to face with Kakashi and Jiraiya, and handed them the envelope with the cassette, and left. No words were spoken. Two hours later, the call came for him, as he had expected.

He stood erect, in front of Sakumo, Kakashi and Jiraiya, as they all looked at the youngster, with their faces betraying nothing. Finally, Jiraiya began.

"Itachi, just three questions. Who? When & Why?"

Itachi told his story carefully. It was true in every detail, save that he had claimed the source of the tape had been Akasuna no Sasori. That he noticed, elicited a minute reaction from his stepfather and his step grandfather.

"Sasori …huh," Jiraiya muttered, "know of him of course … well now, you had better get back Itachi, there is a lot of stuff that is about to go down. We will authenticate this of course, and let you know. Just go home and have that mother of yours, make you a nice meal, and take a well-deserved rest."

Itachi bowed and left. After he had left, the mood in the room turned grim.

"He doesn't know yet, does he?" Kakashi asked Jiraiya, who became serious once more.

"About Danzo's apparent suicide? Not yet …" Jiraiya spoke quietly, while Kakashi became pensive.

"I have asked Tsunade to perform an autopsy personally … we are still not certain if it was a suicide or somebody else, covering up their involvement in Danzo's affairs, though given what he said, I still have my doubts," Sakumo muttered, even as he closed his eyes. The last two days had been quite trying after all.

"Is this … genuine?" Kakashi asked after a moment, as he pointed to the tape.

"Don't know …" Jiraiya said thoughtfully. "It's going to take a lot of checking out, I might have to do it personally, given the stakes of what we have heard. But it is possible. Sasori's history with the Kazekage is public knowledge after all, and some part of this has checked out, so we cannot dismiss it outright as a fake. It will take time though," he said quietly, while silence descended upon the room.

"Spell it out," Sakumo ordered, while Jiraiya stood up and began to pace around.

"Firstly, with Itachi, if this is a trap for him, and the next meeting is to spring the trap, I would like him to take Kakashi along with him, just as a precaution. The opposition might, just might, be trying to create an incident between our two nations."

"Put him on indefinite leave from council duty. He is owed that at the least," Sakumo ordered Kakashi, who nodded curtly.

"In Konoha only, and no wandering abroad," Kakashi cautioned, while Sakumo nodded in agreement.

"Then there's the tape itself," Jiraiya continued, "it breaks down into two parts, the Sado Report, and the Royal council meeting. So far as I know, we have never heard the man speak, but that can be arranged easily," Jiraiya smirked, even as he continued, "next is the Royal council meeting, and we will need to conduct an analysis of the voice samples, with the one's which we have on record, but that will be trickier. We need to be absolutely certain, before we take this to Shingen-dono," he cautioned, while Sakumo nodded.

"Take your time," Sakumo spoke genially. Everyone knew he meant less than a week, although nobody betrayed a fraction of their emotions.

"And now, the final problem. The Ura Buto Satsujin …," Sakumo spoke quietly, as everybody tensed.

"Are you certain that this is an attempt by the other villages, to take Kurei out?" Sakumo asked Jiraiya who looked at him wanly.

"Two Jinchuuriki as participants, a kid who is good enough to be a member of the seven swordsmen, Onoki's apprentice, the Kazekage's daughter, not excluding her brother, and the Kumo Sanken themselves … and you are still asking me this question?" Jiraiya snorted wanly, while Sakumo shrugged his shoulders.

"It does seem that this tournament is a bit heavy-handed, doesn't it? And that is not to mention the fact that any and all nuke-nin are to be given a free pass to enter as well," Kakashi snorted.

"Ei was always an ambitious bastard, but this girl in Kiri is getting to be a bit of a bother as well, and Onoki, well … enough said," Jiraiya retorted, as the three men began to think of a way out of this mess.

"What do you think they will all say, when it becomes public that Kurei will not participate?" Sakumo asked Jiraiya who became pensive.

"Hard to say, we will lose a lot of face, and the damage to our reputation will be severe, and they will not hesitate to claim that the Yondaime Hokage's son is a coward, who shirked away from participating, because he feared for his life, and that is just for starters …" Jiraiya speculated, while Kakashi snorted even as the other two turned towards him in surprise.

"Hard to claim that, when everybody watched him butcher four grand summons, by just snapping his fingers in full public view, you know what he has said… he will not be a ninja in the traditional sense, and he will come to our aid, only at the most extreme of cases, like when the very existence of the village is at stake. Hell, the boy is all but practically a hermit, apart from us three, and Itachi and Shisui, no one has even seen him inside the village for the last two years," Kakashi spoke out in a wan tone, while Sakumo and Jiraiya's faces became sour at that reminder.

"Yeah well, we might very well have another civil war on our hands, if he refuses to fight in the Ura Buto Satsujin. Half the village will be up in arms, _we need something_, something to divert the attention away from him, and at the same time we need to come up with a solution for this problem …," Jiraiya spoke curtly, while Sakumo suddenly gave an eerie smile.

"Wanna let us in on the secret, Hokage-sama?" Jiraiya glared at Sakumo, annoyance rife in his tone, as Sakumo's eyes became alight with a hint of mischief.

"If everyone wants Kurei to be in the Ura Buto Satsujin, then we will of course … oblige," Sakumo said cheerfully, and raised his hands to stop Kakashi and Jiraiya from interrupting. "Of course, but we have no obligation to satisfy the whims of the other villages by making him participate personally, but there is an alternative. Kakashi, spread the word that Kurei's team will participate in the tournament in his stead, and ask Shisui to assume command."

"_Father, you can't be serious … you can't mean to send them of all people in this tournament!_" Kakashi rose up to protest when his father stopped him.

Of course, I am serious Kakashi, I think it is high time, that the rest of the shinobi world learns of the existence … of the _Uruha_," Sakumo smiled grimly, while Kakashi blanched.

"By the way, are they back from Nami no Kuni yet?"

* * *

**IN NAMI NO KUNI, AROUND THE SAME TIME,**

* * *

"Man … this is so boring, these guys were not even worth the effort," the voice of a girl came out, even as the other people in the area looked at her in exasperation. Currently, the four members of the said team, were at the private island of the de-facto dictator of the small island nation, Tanaka Gato, and in front of them, lay the corpses of the man's private mercenary army.

Nearly two thousand corpses laid awash on the field in various states of dismemberment, and the field was dyed red in blood. It had been a short and brutal battle, and it spoke volumes about the skills of the team members, when the most that any of them had to show for their efforts, were their clothes, which were soaked in the blood of their enemies.

Their team had been sent in to release this country from the clutches of the tyrannical mobster-cum-businessman, after their leader had received a personal plea from an old acquaintance of his mother, who lived in the area.

"Well, if you had actually even fought once instead of making them all fight each other through your illusions, you would not have a reason to complain, _Yakumo-san,_" a monotone voice came out, as Kurama Yakumo, the owner of the afore-mentioned voice, huffed in indignation.

"I swear … ever since you have mastered that _sword_, you have become even more annoying, _Sai," _Yakumo retorted while Sai blandly stared at the girl.

"It is no use complaining, it was merely their fate to die by our hands," another voice came out, as the third member of their team walked towards them.

"_Neji, _are you having a _fate_ relapse again? Do you actually want to go for another remedial session with Kurei-sama again?" Yakumo asked with a coy smile on her face, while Neji Hyuuga stiffened.

"Of course not, Yakumo-san, it was a momentary lapse of concentration, it will not happen again, my apologies," Neji bowed wanly, as Yakumo laughed aloud, while Sai's face twitched for a moment.

"Our job is done," the last member of their team, and their de-facto team leader announced curtly, as he walked near them, even as the severed head of Tanaka Gato dangled down in his right hand, held upright by his hair. In death, the man's face had graphically captured all the anguish he had felt at his last moment, and had frozen it for eternity. The leader carelessly threw away Gato's head amongst the pile of garbage at the side as he approached his team, when suddenly, a small burst of purple flame appeared in mid-air before them, and vanished as abruptly, even as the leader caught the scroll, that dropped into his hands.

As he slowly unfurled the message, his eyes widened for a fraction.

"What does it say, _Kabuto-san_?" Neji asked quietly, even as Yakushi Kabuto, the second-in-command of team Uruha, looked up at the rest of his team members.

"We have been ordered back to Konoha immediately."

* * *

**Meanwhile, In Konoha, during the same time,**

* * *

Samui, Omoi, and Karui, the three students of the jinchuuriki of the Hachibi were racing towards Konoha. Their team leader Darui, and Samui's brother Atsui, were in the forefront, Darui had wisely opted to keep Atsui with him, forcing the over-enthusiastic boy to be silent, lest he anger his team leader.

Samui on the other hand, was beginning to feel the vestiges of a massive headache coming upon her, which was not surprising considering that her teammates had once again started to bicker with each other.

"What should I do?" Omoi spoke with a deep sigh when Karui snapped, "What the hell are you talking about?" the possibly bipolar girl asked him with a snarl.

Omoi replied looking wistfully, "Well, I was wondering, what should I do if there are tons of cute girls in Konoha and they all fall for me," the lollipop sucking ninja complained.

"Yeah," Karui snapped, "That is a problem, why don't you just go out with the one you like then?" she asked snidely.

"That is the problem," Omoi snapped, "What should I do if she falls with me in love so much that when the time comes for us to leave Konoha, she might not want me to leave? I am scared she might want us to commit suicide together," he admitted while even Samui stopped a moment as she heard the absurd thoughts of the man.

"How far are you playing those scenarios out? We haven't even got to Konoha yet! That is so gross," Karui snapped when Omoi retorted, "You should be careful too, some guy who looks really hot might come on to you," he pointed out.

With a sudden blush, the dark skinned girl began to fidget, "Anyway, now that you mention it, some hot and rich guy might come on to me too, Yeah," she gloated.

"Nah," Omoi retorted after a moment, "Maybe for Samui, but not to a flat-chested chick like you," he retorted and Karui snapped.

"You son of a…," she roared as she picked up a rock and flung it at him.

"Hey watch it," Omoi retorted as he ducked and the rock sailed over him, "What if that rock had hit a boulder and it crumbled leading to a chain reaction that caused an avalanche that buried Konoha?" he asked as he glared at her.

"Shut up," Samui retorted, "We have arrived," she spoke as she reached the tip of the cliff from where Konoha would be visible.

As they reached and saw Konoha however, they stopped.

"Wow …," Atsui mentioned in surprise, as he looked at the completely normal looking visage of the village.

"For a bunch of guys who just went through a civil war, these guys are pretty relaxed," Atsui pointed out, while Darui was subtly analyzing the village for any possible signs of discomfort.

As he looked around, he noticed that the villagers and the shinobi seemed content and that there was no despair in their eyes even though their village came nearly close to absolute destruction. _This new hokage must be something else;_ he admitted softly, _to keep the villager's spirit up like this even in such a disaster is no small feat._

"Be silent, and make no attempts to draw attention to ourselves. We will go in, get ourselves registered, and then, if time permits, we will try to gather some information," Darui ordered curtly, while they all nodded.

* * *

As soon as they neared the gate, they saw that it was being manned by only two shinobi, which made them pause in their tracks. Two shinobi, just two… and by the looks of them, they were not even Jonin, rather like chunin, but that was absurd. There was no way that the main entrance of one of the five great villages would be guarded by merely two chunin.

In Kumo, each of their four gates, was manned by at least a battalion, and here … just two chunin. Surely, Konoha couldn't be that confident in their defenses, it was said that they were the most powerful of the five, but this was bordering on sheer arrogance. To put just two measly chunin on guard at their main entrance, spoke volumes about the level of confidence Konoha had in its famed reputation of being unassailable … but this …

Quietly, they approached the guards, and presented their identification, and after a moments, one of the guards joined up with them, to guide them to the tower of the Hokage.

As soon as they stepped inside the gate, all the Kumo shinobi felt a trickle of chakra wash over them, and then it was as if nothing had happened at all. Some sort of invisible detection barrier, which had scanned them all, Darui realized instantly, even as he kept silent.

As they made their way through the village, they noticed that everything was functioning normally, and there appeared to be no signs of any damage at all, from the civil war that was said to have taken place a few days ago.

"So, Kotetsu-san, was it?" Samui subtly slithered towards the nonchalant looking Chunin, who seemed to be taken aback at being addressed by her. She noticed that his eyes, as usual with most men, drifted towards her enormous cleavage first, and then to her face, even as the man's cheeks had reddened.

"Ah yes …," he stammered out, even as the Kumo Tokubetsu Jonin, shifted her hands below her midriff, and folded them, making her chest bulge out even more than normal.

"Your village seems to be a lot more carefree than it should, considering that you went through a civil war and all," she muttered in a distracted tone, even as the ears of her teammates perked up.

"Ano … well," Kotetsu chuckled nervously, as he continued, "it is not that big of a deal, we knew it was coming any way, it was all planned out … those idiots never stood a chance," he puffed out in pride, while the eyes of the Kumo team members narrowed.

_So, they were aware of it before hand, or was it a deliberately baited trap to draw out the traitors? That is one hell of a way to flush out traitors, especially when their Kage is dead, and the new hasn't even assumed office formally_, Darui thought, even as he noticed that most of the shinobi in the street seemed to be very excited and were talking in hushed whispers.

"These guys seem to be quite excited. Something going on in the village, like a festival maybe?" he muttered casually, as he pointed towards the various groups of excited shinobi who were moving around.

"Ano … well, Hokage-sama has finally given permission for the _Uruha_ to become public, and it is said that they are going to participate in the Ura Buto Satsujin, it has never happened before, the Uruha are legends in Konoha, and they have never been in public view before, so it is kind of a big deal," Kotetsu muttered hastily, while the members of the Kumo team stopped in their tracks.

"Are you sure you should even be talking about stuff like that? It must be pretty top-secret level stuff," Omoi pointed out, while Kotetsu just shrugged.

"No point in keeping it a secret, now that Hokage-sama himself has made them public, besides it is a moot-point, seeing that they are going to participate in the tournament anyway. I am rather interested to see how you guys rank up, compared to them anyways," he muttered with a cheeky smile as he moved forward.

"What the hell does that mean? You saying we are weak?" Karui growled in anger, even as the Kumo team began to move once more, while the others fell silent.

"Of course not, I meant no offence," Kotetsu began hastily, when Samui intervened.

"Karui, stop scaring him, please forgive her, my teammate is a rather prideful individual," she muttered with a smile that never reached her eyes, while Kotetsu just shrugged it off.

"I have never heard of this Uruha before," Darui muttered, even as the Hokage tower loomed near them, while Kotetsu shrugged.

"Of course, you wouldn't, until today, their existence was the most closely held secret of Konoha. They are all the members of the team that is led by the Yondaime's son after all."

That stopped the Kumo team, right in their tracks.

"The Yondaime Hokage's son?" Samui asked quietly, as all of them gazed at Kotetsu with a level of intensity that unnerved the man.

"Of course," the man stammered nervously as he continued, "Kurei-sama has personally selected the members of the team, and each of them is unbelievably strong. It is said that you have to kill at least a hundred enemy Jonin before you are even considered for membership, and even then, membership is not guaranteed; becoming a member of that team is the highest honor sought in the village. Even, many of the ANBU who have tried out for membership have failed," he concluded, while the Kumo team went slack-jawed.

"You are kidding!" Omoi blurted out loudly, at which Kotetsu grinned.

"I kid you not! Why the hell do you think everybody is so excited, kid?" he asked wanly, while the Kumo Nin looked around, and it was true, the Konoha shinobi seemed more excited than usual.

"So, is the Yondaime's son participating as well, then?" Karui asked casually, even though she was anything but casual.

"Pffft… of course not, for just a mere tournament like this?" Kotetsu snorted, "It would be an insult to even ask him to participate in such a petty tournament, his team is more than enough to handle this, why go for the big guns, when a small one is all you need?" the man snorted, and even Darui had to raise his eyebrows at that. Had to.

"You do know what this tournament is all about, right?" he asked carefully, as Kotetsu just shrugged, "of course I do, we have won the last two in a row after all, and we are going to aim for a hat-trick, now that the Uruha are in this, we are guaranteed to win," the man proclaimed cockily, while Omoi and Atsui restrained Karui from literally maiming the cocky shit of a chunin to pieces.

Before anything untoward could happen, Kotetsu proclaimed, "And we are here, this is the registration deck, all the other participants are also here, once you are registered, you will all be guided to your accommodations. Well, I hope to see you guys around, have a nice day," the man waved jauntily and walked off, leaving a seething trio of Kumo chunin behind.

"Wow, I never thought I would see a day, when I would see someone who is more of an idiot than Atsui," Samui mentioned quietly, while Atsui retorted with an indignant "hey!"

* * *

Meanwhile, as Kotetsu made his way back to the gate stand, he was joined by Izumo, who looked at his partner.

"In the bag!" he muttered while, Izumo grudgingly handed him a wad of Ryo.

"Hah! I told you I would scare them more severely, than what you did with those Iwagakure guys!"

"Yeah …yeah," Izumo grumbled, and then spoke in a lofty tone, "what do you think those guys will do, when the Uruha actually show up?'

"I don't wanna be there to find out, do you?"

"Nah … guess not!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the reception area, the Kumo team had taken the time to analyze the competition, and was silently trying to scope out any particular threats, when one team caught their eye.

"Holy shit! Is that Zabuza Momochi himself? What the fuck is someone like that doing here?" Atsui blurted out in shock as he looked at the team from Kiri, even as the rest of the team whirled around in shock.

And sure enough, at the opposite end of the room, the delegation from Kiri was waiting around lazily. Led by the front from none other than the legendary leader of the seven swordsmen himself, with his infamous blade in full public view.

His team looked quite ferocious as well, and Darui immediately recognized two of them. One was of course, Suigetsu Hozuki, the younger brother of the former leader of the seven swordsmen Mangetsu Hozuki, with his brother's infamous blade HirameKarei , upon his shoulders.

But the second … even Darui's stout heart nearly skipped a beat, as he looked at the jinchuuriki of the Rokubi, Kagami Utakata. As a member of the Raikage's inner circle, Darui was privy to most of the sensitive intelligence gathered by their village, and among them, identities of the other Jinchuuriki as well. The presence of a jinchuuriki of Utakata's caliber here, made all sorts of alarm bells start to ring inside his head.

Finally, he looked over at the last two members, and nearly groaned in despair. Nearly. Honestly, a Kaguya & a Yuki of all people, especially the Yuki clan girl, and man was she cold, despite the unexpected pun, Darui observed that the girl, like himself, was coldly evaluating the various foreign shinobi present in the chamber.

This was too troublesome.

* * *

Haku was calmly evaluating all the people present in the chamber, when she noticed a delegation of Kumo ninja come inside, being led by a Konoha chunin. She silently nudged her father, who turned around and narrowed his eyes, as he looked at the Kumo team.

"So, even Kumo is serious about this, huh?" Zabuza grunted, as he eyed Darui, who he noticed, appeared to be too lazy and carefree at first glance. Zabuza was not fooled by the act. He knew that it was just a act.

"You know of them, father?" she asked lightly, while Zabuza grunted.

"That lazy oaf over there is Darui, and he is said to be a prospective candidate for the position of the fifth Raikage. He is also the personal apprentice of the third Raikage, and is the only black lightning user in the world alive today. And that team, they must be the Kumo Sanken, the team trained by the Jinchuuriki of the eight tails, that's a pretty strong team, I am surprised that the Raikage even allowed them to participate," he grunted while Kimimaro looked at them coldly.

"Trained by the Hachibi Jinchuuriki, the Raikage's adopted brother?"

"The very same, they don't have skills to boast about individually, but as a team, their teamwork is said to be near unbeatable. The only ones who are said to surpass their level of teamwork currently are Konoha's Ino-Shika-Cho triad, and of course, the Sannin."

"Impressive, but teamwork is just not going to be enough to survive … in this tournament. After all, even one weak link weakens the whole chain, and I think I have already figured out who the weak link is," Kimimaro muttered, even as his eyes zeroed in on Atsui, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable in the area.

* * *

From the opposite end of the Kiri delegation, the team of Iwa ninja also, was not idle, and had wasted no time in trying to analyze their opponents.

"Well, this is a strong line-up, man, I have never seen such a bunch of tough-looking guys before, and damn, look at the teams from Kiri and Kumo, they went all out, huh, what do you think, pops?" Kurotsuchi asked her father, who was silently observing them all.

"So, Darui of the Black Lightning, and Zabuza Momochi himself, huh, you kids have your work cut out for you, take a good look at them all, and especially, the Kiri team, they are going to target us, I have no doubt of that," Kitsuchi muttered quietly, while his team fell silent.

"Kitsuchi-taicho, what do you make of all this '_Uruha'_ nonsense…un?" Deidara asked from the windowsill where he was perched, looking at the Hokage mountain, and assessing what level of explosives he would need to blow it up, _hypothetically of course_.

Kitsuchi became pensive. Earlier, he had just thought that the Chunin escort had been just messing around, but the level of excitement present in the faces of all the Konoha Ninja they had come across was genuine, and if this was a scheme to trick them all, then it was hard to believe that the entire village was in on it, no, there was more to this Uruha thing, than he had suspected after all.

"I have my suspicions," the man began, even as he tried to collect his thoughts, "but it appears that Konoha has trained another one of their infamous free response teams."

"A free response team?" Akatsuchi, their last member spoke out softly, even as he gazed at their leader who shrugged his shoulders.

**"When Konoha senses a war coming, they increase their training programs dramatically and turn out some very powerful individuals, just like every other village tries to do. However, they also train one team, called a free response team. A team, trained to take on missions that are considered as virtually suicidal or self-destructive. Basically, a team that can take on any mission with little to no knowledge. Espionage, Assassination, Sabotage, Demolition, Medic Aid, Reconnaissance, Melee combat, long range, mid range, and even short range combat, there is no field that they are not proficient in. A completely self-contained, and self-sustaining team of individuals, who can single-handedly perform the tasks of an entire ninja battalion, that is … a free response team."**

"You are shitting me!" Deidara exclaimed in shock as he turned towards his leader, while both his teammates looked uncertain.

"I am not, Konoha has already trained one such team in the past, and now, I think they have trained another, if it is as I suspect, then this is ... very bad news."

"In the past? Who? We would have surely heard of them then?" Kurotsuchi blurted out, while Kitsuchi smiled grimly.

"You have … everybody has. They are simply known nowadays as '_The SANNIN_'."

"Fuck … and now another of their kind is in this tournament ?" his daughter asked with an incredulous tone, while Kitsuchi nodded grimly.

* * *

Suddenly, the doors to the room were banged open loudly, as a very loud voice could be heard coming through from the outside. Everyone in the chambers, turned to look around at the new source of commotion.

"Fucking hell … hey Kakuzu, what the fuck is with this shit? And where the hell is that idiot, TOBI? I swear, if he is running around, trying to make some new friends, I swear I will sacrifice him to Jashin-sama!" a loud voice swore, as two men, wearing black cloaks with a design of red clouds walked in.

The man known as Kakuzu was wearing a slashed hitai-ate of Taki, was a tall, dark skinned, muscular man. He wore a white hood and a black mask on his face with his eyes being the only visible part.

The other man, was wearing a slashed hitai-ate of Yugakure, and had silver colored hair. He wore his cloak open with no shirt, only pants under it revealing his Yugakure forehead protector around his neck and an amulet. He also wore dark green nail polish, and carried a triple bladed scythe on his back.

As one, most of the shinobi took a look at those two men, and tensed, because they were the vultures, who took part in the Ura Buto Satsujin. The ninja who owed allegiance to no village, the Nuke Nin. It seemed that word was out, and once again, the rogue element of their culture was making their presence felt in this tournament.

"Where the hell is that little shit? I swear …," the silver haired man, began to mumble, when his giant of a colleague glared at him.

"Hidan, have patience, Tobi is of no consequence to us, he is just cannon-fodder assigned to give our team the minimum required number to participate, no more, no less, now be quiet, I have to analyze what possible bounties I can gain from here."

"I swear, Kakuzu … what is with you and money?" Hidan grumbled, while Kakuzu ignored him as usual.

* * *

**Meanwhile, at the location of the Suna delegation,**

* * *

"Hey Temari, it is getting late, come on, we will be late for the registration, and Gaara will not be happy, you know that, don't you?" Kankuro yelled in exasperation, as he stood outside his sister's room, while Baki and Gaara, just stood at the side. Baki looked concerned, while Gaara looked bored.

Slowly, the door creaked open, and a disheveled Temari's face came out from behind the door. "I am not feeling that well. Could you just go on without me?" she asked wanly, even as she stifled a yawn.

"What were you doing? Were you up all night or what?" Kankuro asked crossly, not noticing the look of alarm that flitted through his sister's face for a second.

Meanwhile, Baki strode up, "Are you ill, Temari? Do you require medical assistance?" he asked calmly, while she shook her head.

"I will be fine, Sensei, I just have a touch of cold, I should be fine in a day or two, but I am really tired, you can go ahead and register me anyways, can't you, I would really appreciate it," she muttered in a tired tone, while Baki nodded guardedly, "well, if you are sure," the man muttered as he motioned Kankuro to follow him, even as Gaara walked out without a care in the world.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Temari closed the door and turned around, and almost immediately, she nearly let out a shocked gasp, and stumbled in surprise, because there was someone present in her room, sitting on her chair, and looking at her without a care in the world.

The person in front of her, had the most unique appearance she had ever seen. He had blond hair, with a red tint to it at the tips. He was wearing a black cloak, which covered him completely from neck to toe, and he was wearing a porcelain mask, which encased his face and the back of his head completely, and had been sealed with a tiny padlock just below his right ear, making it appear like an earring, and he also wore another ear-ring in his left ear, with a small spiral pendant. The only part of his face that was visible were his purple eyes, through the two slits, which served as eyeholes in the mask.

The eerie looking stranger calmly held up his left hand, and immediately, his entire left wrist, became alight with purple flames, illuminating the dark room, and made his hand eerily resemble a torch. To date, Temari had never even heard or seen someone manipulate fire with that level of dexterity.

"Greetings, Temari-san," the stranger greeted her, even as she tensed. The man's voice was one you never wanted to hear in a dark alley at night. "I am afraid that we have not yet been introduced yet. I would have introduced myself earlier, but I did not wish to intrude upon the conversation you were having with Uchiha Itachi yesterday, so, I believe, now is the right time for us to get acquainted with each other," he concluded wanly, while Temari instantly became alert as a Kunai automatically slithered into her wrist from the sleeve of her robe.

"Who are you?" she asked in a guttural tone, while the stranger stood up, even as the flames in his hand withered away.

"Forgive me, I have not introduced myself, have I?" he chuckled, as he looked at her, "well, for the sake of expediency, you may call me … _Kurei."_


End file.
